Getting Out of His Shadow
by AnimeAddict1059
Summary: Harry was beginning to become envious of his brother ever since both of them started Hogwarts. As he tries to get out of his brother's shadow, something he definitely didn't want, happened. His name came out of the Goblet of Fire. Now, he is forced to compete in the Tournament. He just can't help but wonder what will happen next if he ever survived his 4th year...
1. Chapter 1: How It Started

**Author's Note: **Yeah...I've been wanting to do one of those Wrong BWL stories and here it is. I've had the idea up in my head for a while now and I finally have published it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

* * *

**In St. Mungos…**

"Waah! Waah!"

The sound of a new born baby echoed throughout the ward in the wizarding hospital. The healers immediately checked over the baby. Some of the others were huddled around the mother.

"The other baby now Mrs. Potter. _Push!_" Healer Summers said.

Lily Potter held onto her husband's hand tightly (James winced) and pushed.

"Push!"

Lily held onto James' hand tighter.

"Push! Push!"

A few more minutes later, the baby finally slid out of Lily's body. However, it didn't make a sound.

"I-Is our… baby… alright?" Lily said weakly.

Once the other healers were done with Lily, they immediately went over to the new baby.

"W-what's wrong? W-what's the matter w-with o-our baby? James?" Lily asked worriedly.

James didn't respond. His gaze was fixed at the healers.

"No…" Lily moaned. "James…"

"Honey, you did beautifully. Right now let's trust the Healers. You're tired. Get some rest okay? No, don't argue. I'll keep watch on the babies. Get some rest."

James looked at her, placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her forehead before he was ushered out by one of the healers. Lily didn't want to give in but she really was tired. She closed her eyes and found herself asleep immediately.

When Lily woke up the next morning, she found James sleeping softly with his head on her bed. She couldn't help but smile at her husband. She shook James gently. James woke up.

He looked so tired. He must've stayed up all night.

"Morning sweetheart." Lily said softly.

The door suddenly opened and a healer came in with two babies wrapped in light blue blankets.

"Congratulations Mrs. Potter! You have two beautiful sons right here." She gave Lily the first bundle. Lily looked at her son lovingly. This one had dark red hair like her. He opened his eyes slowly and showed Lily his hazel eyes.

"This sweety gave us all a scare all night." The Healer said as she gave the second bundle to Lily while James held the other one.

"What's the matter with him?" Lily asked worriedly.

"Maybe you'll find out later. Healer Summers will come by this afternoon."

Lily nodded as she looked at the baby boy in her arms. He looked so much like James. His hair stuck out even though he still didn't have that many.

"Anyway, I'm supposed to get their names what'll you be naming reddy?" the healer said as she pointed to the red haired baby with James.

To Lily's surprise, James immediately answered, "Lucas. Lucas Ryan Potter"

Lily knew James had named him after her. In a distance, Lucas did look like her.

"What about him?",the healer asked as she pointed to the baby held by Lily.

Lily looked at the baby's features for just a second when the perfect name came to her.

"Harry. Harry James Potter."

James looked ready to jump out and start kissing and hugging Lily over and over while saying "I love you!" but since baby Harry was with her, he decided to smile very widely at her. The Healer left once she had written down the names.

"Hey. Hey little me! I'll teach you Quidditch with your brother and then we can pull pranks on your uncles. Sirius-"

"James! I forgot! Their godfathers!" Lily cut off. James placed Lucas on Lily's other arm before he wand communicated with his best friends.

"Moony? Is Padfoot there?" said James.

"Just a minute Prongs. I have to give Nathan to Dora." Remus' voice sounded.

In the background, a sort of muffled voice said, "Where are you going?"

"Just to St. Mungos, honey. I have to be there. I'll be back in no time. Nathan, be a good boy while Daddy's going out. Oi! Padfoot! Let's go!"

"What? Where are we going?" Sirius' voice sounded.

"St. Mungos. James' kid's born." Remus said.

"Kay."

A few minutes later, the door to their ward opened and Remus and Sirius stepped in. Baby Harry suddenly opened his eyes and cried.

Lily gave Lucas to her husband and comforted Harry. Sirius immediately went over to them.

"Oi look! This one's got Lily's eyes! See? They're green! Oww!" Lily smacked Sirius' head.

"Unless you want your godson to cry again you better shut up!" Lily said.

"Yeah. And is that a reason to suddenly hit me – wait! GODSON?" Sirius shouted.

Harry suddenly cried very loudly. If Lily wasn't in her current condition she would've beat Sirius to a pulp but given the circumstances…

Harry finally quieted down and looked at Lily with their similar emerald green eyes. Lily felt her heart melt at the sight of those innocent green eyes. She couldn't even imagine someone who was so innocent like Harry and Lucas to defeat Voldemort.

"Erm… Lils? Can we swap? I still haven't held mini me." James asked. Lily nodded and gave him Harry while she gave Lucas to Remus while Sirius pouted about not getting to hold a baby.

"Don't worry Sirius. Catherine's due soon isn't she? You'll have your baby."

"Right." Sirius said. His wife Catherine was due soon with their first born.

James chuckled as he cooed at Harry. Harry mumbled as James held out his finger. Harry lifted his small hands slowly and tried to hold James' finger. When Harry finally caught James' finger, James said, "Harry's gonna be a great seeker someday. I know he'll be."

Sirius looked at baby Lucas and baby Harry again and again until he blurted, "How come these two are twins? They don't look too much alike!"

"Sirius, didn't I tell you to keep your voice down?" Lily said sweetly but pure killing intent radiated from her.

"Uh…hehehe…sorry." Said Sirius. "But seriously though, they don't look alike."

"That's what you get if you mix Prongs with Lily." Said Remus.

"I suppose that is true." Sirius agreed and laid back on the couch.

For the next few hours, they relaxed themselves. Harry and Lucas were taken to the nursery.

"May I come in?" asked a voice on the door.

"Are you Healer Summers?" James asked.

"Yes."

"Well? What wrong with our son…wait…which son was it again?"

"James…" Lily said pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Ah…it's" Summers said and checked his clipboard, "Harry. And well, when we ran various tests last night, and, well, most of them showed no problems. Some though showed that he has some trouble with his heart, his blood, and his magic flow. I don't know why but those three were the only problems we could pick up although we sensed that there was something more."

"W-what?" Lily stammered. "B-but I took g-good care of them! How could you say that?" Tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"Unfortunately, there's more bad news."

"T-There's more?" asked Remus quietly.

"Yes. According to some results of our research this morning, this…erm…illness, if you will…it cannot be healed. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean? Cures for magic flow, blood, and heart illnesses have been invented! How can you not heal him?" James shouted.

"Mr. Potter, we have a theory. You see, we have deduced it to this. All three of them come together to make this incurable disease that's very rare. According to our records, about 50 years ago, a man was diagnosed with this and died not long afterwards. So, you see, even if we were to heal one of those, it won't really have an effect cause it will just come back because of the other two. This is just a theory though. We do not think it's like this illness entirely. We suspect it might be something more. More serious. More dangerous."

"So you're saying my son is going to die? Is that it? Huh?" James said, outraged. Lily sobbed into James chest.

"N-No. But what I am saying now is for you to prepare for the worst that might happen. I'm sorry."

* * *

**October 31, 1981 ( Fifteen months later)**

Voldemort had found the Potters at last. After months of waiting here he was at last, face to face with an unarmed James. He knocked James unconscious and went after Lily. Harry was having trouble breathing and Lucas was crying loudly. Lily couldn't do anything but to block out Voldemort.

"Harry…" Lily cried.

Voldemort blasted the door open and sent Lily flying to the wall. The last thing she saw was Voldemort heading towards her sons. When she woke up, they were outside of their house which was burning.

"James! Harry! Lucas!"

"Lily! Thank goodness!" James sighed in relief.

"Where are they? Where are my sons?"

"They're right there." Said James and pointed to a nearby spot where Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts school, was talking to a man in a green suit.

James brought her over to Dumbledore and he introduced the man as Harvey Marshall, a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

"He will be helping us out with our transportation to St. Mungos. We can't apparate since Harry is having trouble breathing and he and his brother are still too little. Therefore, I have asked Marshall to come. He knows this spell that can transport people through dimensions. In that way, we can breathe and move freely and can get there in no time. We'll if there's nothing else then let's go."

With an incantation and a flick of his wand, Marshall transported them and before they knew it they were standing outside St. Mungos.

The Healers tended to them immediately. And James, who hadn't noticed that he had fallen asleep, woke up to see his wife on a bed next to his the next day.

"Excuse me Mr. Potter. I have some check up results and I thought you might want to hear them."

It wasn't James who answered but Lily who was already sitting up. "Yes, we'd like to."

"Yes, uh…the both of you are fine. Your sons…uh…Lucas Potter is fine although he has a scar and Dumbledore just declared him the one who vanquished Voldemort and like I said, he's fine. Your other son, Harry. According to his medical records, he has a rare disease right? Well, we don't know what happened last night exactly but, it has heightened his life and somehow altered some things inside his system which somehow resulted in destroying some of the causes of his illness. In other words, it slowed down his illness. And his chances of making it alive until he's graduated Hogwarts or something like that is going up at around 80%! What happened tonight was a miracle!"

Lily couldn't have been more happier in her entire life.

* * *

**July 28, 1987 ( Six years later… )**

Lucas and Harry are now 7 years of age. Lucas was spoiled rotten by his parents since he was the one who defeated Voldemort and all their worries about Harry's sickness has disappeared because they had relied on what the Healer said six years ago.

But Harry was far from alright. True, he had lived, but he was treated like a guinea pig for research. The Healers would have him at St. Mungo's weekly, trying to decipher his illness and find a cure but his parents never checked up on him. Harry, being the child that he was, believed that his parents were probably busy with so many stuff now that Lucas had started to receive training. He never questioned them and they never bothered him much. That was how he had spent his life for as long as he could remember.

His parents, in Harry's opinion, were good people. He never questioned their decisions once and he wasn't about to do that now. They raised him like any normal parent would. Well, any normal parent with a celebrity child. His parents gave him his needs and they made sure, (to Harry's eyes anyway) that he received his necessary medications. They didn't abuse him, no, they just…forgot about him a bit. Still, his existence was acknowledged a little by his parents. That's better than being ignored completely.

Harry had grown quite a lot. He was a taller than kids his age and thinner than average. He was also deathly pale and had dark circles under his eyes. He wore big clothes that Lucas had outgrown and round glasses like his father. Lucas didn't wear glasses and was really fat since he got everything he wanted. Harry was given a strict order from the hospital of foods that he should not eat, therefore, he was really thin.

One day, while he was downstairs toying with his porridge, having lost the appetite to eat, his mother suddenly arrived with Lucas.

"Faster Mommy! I want cookies!"

"Here. Boy, you sure are growing up fast Lucas." She returned the cookie jar on the shelf and saw Harry sitting on the table, looking like a skeleton.

She felt her heart break at the sight of her son. She hasn't seen Harry much lately and she assumed that he was doing well with his weekly visits to St. Mungos and such but now, he looked like he had lost his hopes of ever living.

"Lucas dear, why don't you go with daddy to Diagon Alley?"

"Okay!" said Lucas and marched out of the kitchen.

"Harry."

Harry felt shivers tingling down his spine when he heard her say his name. She _was_ his mother right? So why did her voice sound so distant, so unfamiliar.

"Harry are you alright?" she asked as she felt his neck and forehead. 'He's cold. _Too_ cold' Lily thought and said, "Here Harry, eat more. You're thin enough as it is!" with concern evident in her voice.

"I'm not hungry." Harry said quietly but Lily heard him.

"Please Harry, eat something. You have to get better. Here, open your mouth." Lily said, scooping up some porridge and holding it up for Harry.

"I told you, I'm not hungry."

"Oh come on Harry this is for your own good."

"I'm not really feeling good mum. Maybe later." Harry said and left her and the cold porridge on the table. Lily watched as his son closed the door and sighed. '_Harry…Oh right. Lucas was going with James to Diagon Alley. Better prepare his clothes then.'_

**Potter Manor Library**

Harry sighed and closed the book he had been reading ever since he arrived in the library. The book was about basic spells. When his parents told him that he wasn't allowed to train with Lucas, he had decided to learn by himself. It wasn't because he wanted to show his brother up, but for knowledge. Ever since Harry learned how to read and write, he shut himself up in the library. His thirst for knowledge grew and grew as he discovered new things almost everyday. He learned about everything from wizards to muggles and not one single subject failed to fascinate him.

He became disappointed when Lucas was put under the tutelage of Dumbledore. I mean, that was a big opportunity to gain more knowledge and who better to learn it from but Albus Dumbledore? He made up for his disappointment by reading up in the library, listening in to Dumbledore's lessons secretly, and sometimes, sneaking into his parent's bedroom and borrowing one of their wands as a little bit of a hands-on lesson.

"What time is it?" Harry asked himself. He looked out of the window and saw that the moon was already out. Harry's mouth gaped open. He didn't realize he was in the library for that long. "Might as well go down for dinner. And by dinner I mean medicine." Harry shuddered.

**A few minutes later…**

"Darn…I feel really weak. Shouldn't have overdone it. Nothing can be done to change it now though." Harry muttered as he dragged himself to the dining room. As he entered, James and Lily looked up from their food. Lucas, who was sitting across from Dumbledore and had his back on the doorway didn't notice his presence.

"Sorry. I lost track of time." Harry explained and took up the seat beside Lucas.

"It's quite alright, dear boy. Let's continue where we left off shall we Lucas?" said Dumbledore.

"Certainly Professor. Anyways, we were surrounded and then…" Lucas said. He was telling Dumbledore about the time when he and a cousin of the Prime Minister went on a safari in a forest in Brazil. Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He had heard the story countless of times before and hearing it again would be absolute torture.

"Are you finally in the mood for some food Harry?" Lily asked him.

"Uh sort of…" answered Harry.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'll have them bring up your dinner." She told him and called for a house-elf. She ordered the elf to bring Harry's dinner and it nodded and disappeared with a pop. It came back a few minutes later carrying Harry's food on a silver tray.

The elf put plate in front of Harry. Harry grimaced at the sight of it. He didn't know what the Healers were thinking when they decided to give him this kind of food. He looked at the plates of exquisitely prepared food his family and Dumbledore were eating to the monstrosity that was on his plate. The food tasted horrible and when they ground his medicine and mixed it with it, it tasted worse than ever.

"Come on eat up." Lily said.

Gulping hard, Harry scooped up a small amount and shoved it into his mouth. The horrible taste of it instantly attacked his tastebuds and making want to gag. Wanting to end the torture, he gulped it down and shuddered as he felt it dropped down in his empty stomach.

"It's good that you got your appetite back. Now finish up the whole plate."

With a great shudder and a lot of work to force his hand to move, he scooped up another mouthful. _'Help'_

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**Author's Note: **SO, how was it? I'll appreciate it if you review and tell me how I did. I'm still working on my other story so there will probably be long updates...or not. Nah, but what the heck. I'm running out of ideas on the other one anyway and I'll probably get distracted by this story so I guess I will be updating soon enough.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

-AnimeAddict1059 :3


	2. Chapter 2: 7 Years Later

**Author's Note: **THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Thank you so much for reading my story. I thought it will probably be just get around ten hits. OH Thank you! I was so surprised when it reached the hundreds number. _  
_

Thank you! THANK YOU for those who reviewed. This is my first take on a HP fanfiction. Thank you for reading my story

This is a time skip SEVEN YEARS into the future. So that means Harry is now fourteen and he is a fourth-year student at Hogwarts.

Oh...right, this was supposed to be Chapter 2. Carry on then!

**Disclaimer:** Again, I don't own Harry Potter.

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_"Avada Kedavra!" a high cold voice yelled._

_A jet of green light flooded the whole scene._

_..._

_..._

_Everything became very blurred. Like when you throw a rock on a very clear reflection on the water and it just needed some time to clear up again._

_..._

_..._

_He was now in a long, dark, and hallway. The place reminded him of the hallways of haunted houses, dark and eerie. A door that was left slightly ajar was at the end of it and a flickering light shone through the gap. __He edged closer and closer to the door. Several feet from the entrance, he was able to see part of the room. He could see a fire crackling at the grate. Aside from the fire, there was really nothing else._

_"There is a little more in the bottle, my Lord, if you are still hungry." a voice spoke. It belonged to a man but it sounded timid and fearful._

_"Later," said a second voice. The voice also belonged to a man but it was strangely high-pitched and cold. Something about that voice made the hairs at the back of his neck stand up as he listened to the conversation. "Move me closer to the fire, Wormtail."_

_The sound of a bottle being put down was heard and then the dull scraping noise of a heavy chair being dragged across the floor. He caught a glimpse of a small man with his back to the door, pushing the chair into place. He was only there for a few moments, before he disappeared from view again. He was probably doing something on the other side of the room where the door blocked his view._

_"Where is Nagini?" said the cold voice._

_"I-I don't know, my Lord," said the first voice, Wormtail, nervously. "She set out to explore the house, I think..."_

_"You will milk her before we retire, Wormtail," said the second voice. "I will need feeding in the night. The journey has tired me greatly."_

_"My Lord, may I ask how long we are going to stay here?"_

_"A week," answered the cold voice. "Perhaps longer. The place is moderately comfortable, and the plan cannot proceed yet. It would be foolish to act before the Quidditch World Cup is over."_

_"The-the Quidditch World Cup, my Lord?" said Wormtail._

_"Of course, fool, at this very moment wizards are pouring into the country from all over the world, and every meddler from the Ministry of Magic will be on duty, on the watch for signs of unusual activity, checking and double checking identities. They will be obsessed with security, lest the Muggles notice anything. So we wait."_

_"If it is as you say, my Lord, then laying hands on Lucas Potter will be difficult. Maybe we shouldn't-"_

_"Silence! I have my reason for using the boy, he is just a mere step for me to gain my true objective, as I have already explained to you. I have waited thirteen years. A few more months will make no difference. As for the protection surrounding the boy, I believe my plan will be effective. All that is needed is a little courage from you, Wormtail-courage you will find, unless you wish to feel the full extent of Lord Voldemort's wrath-"_

_"My Lord, I-"_

_"Be quiet. I think I hear Nagini..." said the cold voice. Then, he started hissing and spitting like he in some kind of seizure._

_He heard something move behind him. Something was slithering on the floor, towards him. As it drew nearer to the light, he realized that it was a gigantic black snake, at least twelve feet long. It came closer and closer and to his relief, it slid past him and onto the man sitting on the armchair._

_"Nagini has interesting news, Wormtail," the cold voice said, finally switching back to English after he talked to the snake._

_"In-indeed, my Lord?" said Wormtail._

_"According to Nagini, there is an old muggle standing right outside the door. Invite him inside, Wormtail. Where are your manners?"_

_The door was pulled open entirely and he was greeted by a small man with small watery eyes. He beckoned him inside._

_"You heard everything, Muggle?" said the cold voice. "I suppose it can't be helped. Avada Kedavra!"_

_A feeling of déjà vu swept into him as a green light obscured his vision..._

**_(I took this from the book but it has some modifications made by me)_**

"Gah!" gasped Harry as he shot up from his bed. There were cold beads of sweat on his forehead, not to mention his scar hurt like hell. He was also breathing hard as though he had just ran a marathon.

Freeing himself from his sheets, he turned on the lamp and took his glasses from the bedside table, ramming it a bit too hard on his face. He crossed the room, rubbing his scar a little aggressively, and went inside the bathroom. He looked at his reflection on the mirror. His bright green eyes immediately went to the lightning shaped scar on his forehead and a look of confusion spread on his face.

He didn't understand. It looked the same as always. It was as though those moments of pain didn't happen at all. He just didn't understand.

Harry turned the faucet on and washed his face. After washing, he rubbed his face with a towel and went back to his room. He checked his digital alarm clock for the time and it showed 6:30 A.M. Sighing, he went to his study table and sat down on the chair next to it. Going back to sleep would be pointless, so he would do some reading.

Brushing aside the many scattered notes and papers scribbled with reminders and formulas for spells or potions that he modified so that the effect would be stronger or deadlier, he picked up his book and went to the bookmarked page.

The book was about potions that were invented in the late 80's, meaning they were very recent discoveries. Some of the potions mentioned on the book were made by non-other than Lily Potter. Harry was quite proud to be her son. He inherited her cleverness and charms and potions skills. But then again, he inherited all of his parents skills. Skills like flying, transfiguration, herbology, yes, all of the subjects of the Hogwarts curriculum, pranking, dueling, his father's seeker skills, everything. Harry had them all. The teachers were very impressed with him for topping all of their classes every single year and earning most of his house's points. Even Binns and Snape had aknowledged him!

But nobody's perfect. His illness has gotten worse through the years. His treatments at St. Mungo's were having no effect. The stamina he had built up from the days at Hogwarts were drained incredibly just after about 3/4 of the day. He was getting thinner and there were more shadows under his eyes.

Somehow, in his first year, he was put in the Gryffindor Quidditch team for catching Neville Longbottom's Remembrall. His parents were strongly against it but Harry told them that it was okay for him since it meant having fun and what better way to have it than Quidditch? After long hours of discussing, he had finally convinced them to let him enter. And the decision wasn't regretted. He had led their team to victory for three years in a row now. He had never failed in catching the snitch, even the game when it rained so hard and dementors had come to the stadium.

But then Harry found out something about his illness. Something his parents didn't tell him.

It was a summer day. James, Lucas, and Lily were all outside having a picnic without him. Harry wasn't surprised when he found out. He was really quiet. He rarely spoke to his parents and when he did, they would always show a look of surprise for a second before replacing it with a smile and saying "How are you?" or "Oh! Erm...Harry! What do you need?" to cover up their surprise at seeing that they had a second son. Harry didn't understand his parents. Sometimes they care about him, and the next, they would forget him. He personally thought that they needed to be checked at rather than him. Anyway, he wasn't there when they planned it and with him being really quiet, they probably forgot about him...again.

As Harry explored the hallway outside his room, going to rooms he hadn't been to, examining new objects that he found, and avoiding Lucas' bedrooms, (yes plural). His parents' master bedroom was at the end of the hallway. His parents decided to move to this part of the manor. His parents' old bedroom, he had been to (he only went there to "borrow" their wands before he got his own) , but here, he had never been here before. Seeing as the door was open, Harry's curiosity got the better of him. He entered the room.

Harry examined every nook and cranny of the room, UNTIL his gaze fell on a letter that was placed near the window. It looked as though it had just been delivered, seeing as the window was open and the fact that the letter was still sealed.

Harry picked it up and he immediately noticed the St. Mungo's logo. He was right in his guess that the letter had just been delivered when he looked at the date on the upper-right hand corner of the letter. Curious as to what was inside, Harry opened it and read it.

_Mr. and Mrs. Potter,_

_We regret to inform you that your son, Mr. Harry Potter, will never get a chance on the way to recovery. The testing we have done will not work. Nothing else can be done. His illness was greater than we expected._

_We advise you to prepare yourselves for the worst that might happen. _

_We are sincerely sorry._

_ St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries_

Harry stood there frozen as the words sank in.

...He was gonna die...

Harry looked at the letter in his hands for a long time, thinking about what he was gonna do now. A decision finally formed in his mind. Holding the paper tightly in his hand, he set it alight until only ashes remained.

He didn't want his parents to know. If they knew, they would make him stay on a bed waiting for his time to die, and banning him from doing anything. Who would want that? Harry wanted to enjoy every last minute he had left in the world, thank you very much.

He vanished the letter's remains and exited the room.

**_RRRRIIINNNGGGG!_**

"Huh? What? Oh...it's just the alarm." Harry said. He turned it off. "Time for breakfast now, I guess."

Harry left the room and followed the route to the dining room. When he arrived, James, Lily, and Lucas were already sitting around the table, deeply immersed in their conversation. Harry quietly sat down.

"Harry! This is a surprise." his father said, clearly surprised. Harry rarely came to dine with the whole family. The reasons were either he was very tired and he wanted to get some sleep immediately OR he didn't have the appetite to eat.

"Should I bring out your food Harry?" Lily asked.

"A-Actually, mum, c-can I have something else? J-Just for today?" Harry asked tentatively.

"But Harry, the healers said-"

"I-I know. Just this once? I haven't eaten any other stuff other than that. Even at Hogwarts. P-Please?" he pleaded. He might as well try and have some real food for once in his slowly ending life. Besides, the medicated food would not work anyway.

"But..."

"Please?"

James spoke up. "Let him have some, love. I feel sorry for Harry. The stuff looks disgusting. Probably tastes the same way as it looks."

_'Oh, you have no idea...'_ thought Harry.

"Please mum."

"Oh, alright."

"Yes! Thank you."

"Just this once right?"

Harry nodded and piled his plate with bacon, eggs, sausages, and toast.

"Whoa..." said James. "That's quite an appetite you have there Harry."

"This is the first time that I have actually dug in to food. Not to mention this is also my first time eating bacon, eggs, sausages, and toast." Harry said happily.

"Well try not to choke." joked James. "Oh Lucas, by the way. We're sitting at the Top Box at the World Cup. You coming to the game Lily?"

Lily nodded. "Someone needs to be there to keep you two," she pointed to James and Lucas, "in line."

"Can I come too?" Harry asked.

"Of course you can Harry." said James.

"But he's sick." Lily told him.

"But I want to go..." Harry said, looking down on his really full plate.

"I'm sorry Harry but you can't go." Lily said apologetically.

"Don't listen to a word she says Harry. Of course you can come!" James said. Everyone who loves Quidditch is welcome for James Potter.

"_James!_"

* * *

**Author's Note: **Yep. That's Chapter 2. It's really short though... Hey, anyone thinking that I'm rushing the story? If so, then please tell me.

_**So, I was thinking...should I put in what happened between those years? Like how he got his first Hogwarts letter, his first year, his second year, third year...stuff like that. So...Should I? This is up to you of course. If you felt like you needed to know what happened then I'll put up those chapters.**_

_****_Thank You for reading this chapter!

-AnimeAddict1059 :3


	3. Chapter 3: The Quidditch World Cup

**Author's Note: **Again, THANK YOU for reading and reviewing my story! THANK YOU!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter.

On with Chapter 3!

* * *

**-August 22, 1994-**

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

"Wh-Wha-?" said Harry. A mop of messy black hair popped out of the covers and was turning from left to right, looking for the source of the sound.

_Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Harry groaned. "Stupid alarm" Turning the alarm off, he hopped off of his bed and and yawned. Scratching his head absentmindedly, he looked at the date that was shown on the digital alarm clock. It showed 08/22/94 in bright green numbers. Harry frowned. He knew something very important was happening on this date but he just couldn't place it. His eyes then fell on a yellow post-it note with his writing: _Quidditch World Cup tomorrow! Wake up early. Leaving at 5:00 A.M._

Harry's eyes widened. Swearing under his breath, he dashed to the bathroom, ignored the very cold water, and dried himself with a towel afterwards. Putting on a very fast pace, he picked out some clothes to wear and got dressed. After he was done dressing up, he grabbed the backpack at the foot of his bed and sprinted at an incredible speed towards his parents' bedroom and pushed the door open a bit roughly.

"Finally!" Lucas Potter exclaimed when he saw Harry at the door clutching a stitch in his side.

"S-Sorry." Harry panted.

"Well get ready then Harry. The portkey will be activating two minutes from now. We might not have been able to catch it if you decided to come any later. Right. Everyone packed and ready? Here. Get a good hold, right?" James said, holding out a rusty tea kettle.

The Ministry took the liberty to provide transportation to the "Boy-Who-Lived" so he won't be inconvenienced with walking and waiting at the designated point. Harry had to roll his eyes at the thought. They might as well have to give Lucas a portkey to every place he goes to so he won't be "inconvenienced".

Everyone placed a finger or a hand on the portkey. They stayed still for over a minute. James looked at his watch. "Right. In 5...4...3...2..."

It happened immediately. Harry felt his feet leave the ground. He tried to move his hand on the portkey to get a more comfortable grip, only to find out that it was stuck to it. All he could see was a blur of colors and the distorted facial features of his family. He felt an occasional bump on his side, probably his mother's backpack. And then there was Lucas on his other side, who was screaming so loudly it felt like he was going to be deaf if he doesn't stop soon. Harry could almost imagine Lucas wetting his pants with his screams only adding to the effect.

Then it all stopped and his feet immediately found solid ground. Steadying himself as he landed, Harry looked up to see that they had arrived at deserted stretch of misty moor. Lucas was on the ground spitting up some dirt he had swallowed. He and his parents were still standing though looking very windswept.

"Ugh...I hate portkeys..." Lucas said as he stood up.

"Half past five from Potter Manor..." a tired old voice said. Harry spun around and found himself face to face with an old man with a clock. The man next to him held a very long roll of parchment and a a quill in his hand.

"Morning." James greeted them politely. Lily and Harry did the same while Lucas only grunted.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, hang on I'll find your campsite...Potter...Potter...Aha! About a quarter of a mile's walk over there, first field you come to. Site manager's called Mr. Roberts. Arthur Weasley and his group just headed there a few minutes ago."

"Ron's there too? That's great!" Lucas said.

"Thank you." James said to the man. "Come on. Let's go."

They set off across the deserted moor. The thick mist was hindering them as it made it difficult for them to see. Harry was seriously annoyed at it now. All of them were getting more and more impatient by the minute. At last, after twenty minutes of walking, they saw a cottage next to a gate up ahead. Beyond it was a large field with hundreds and hundreds of tents.

"Morning!" James said to man who was standing at the doorway of the cottage.

"Morning." he replied.

"Would you be Mr. Roberts?"

"Yes. That's me." said Mr. Roberts. "And who're you?"

"Erm, Potter-one tent, booked a couple of days ago?"

"Aye," said Mr. Roberts, consulting a list tacked to the door. "You've got a space up by the wood there. Just the one night?"

"That's it." said James.

"You'll be paying now, then?"

"Ah-right-certainly-" said James. "Erm, Lils, could you pay the man?"

Lily sighed. "Say no more."

The three Potter males stood there as they waited for Lily. She came back with a map of the campsite a few minutes later. They set off again.

Harry's eyes widened in fascination with all the tents around them. Some looked ordinary but others had chimneys, gardens, birdbaths, or fountains on them. He even saw a tent that looked like a mini palace. It was made out of silk and it had peacocks tethered at it's entrance. They walked and walked until they heard a voice.

"Lucas! Lucas, over here!"

Lucas recognized it as Ron's voice and he spotted him not long after. He immediately dashed towards him. James, Lily, and Harry followed after him.

"Ron!" Lucas said as he arrived in front of him. "Oh, morning Mr. Weasley."

"Morning Lucas. James! Morning, Lily, Harry." Mr. Weasley said.

"Arthur!" James grinned.

"Morning Arthur! Where are the others?" Lily asked.

"Ah, I've sent Hermione, Ginny, and the twins to get some water. Ron's helping me get a fire started by the time they get back." Mr. Weasley said, gesturing to the small spot on the ground with broken matchsticks scattered about.

"Ah, I see," James said. "Anyway, we need to find our space."

"Hermione? Hermione's here? With you?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah. I invited her. This match is held once every four years and we can't just let this pass by, could we? Hermione's having the time of her life. You should've seen the look on her face when she entered the tent. I reckon' Muggle tents are really small on the inside, judging by her reaction."

Lucas laughed.

"Oh, mate, by the way, didn't you know that your space is right there? You were wandering about on the opposite side, honestly."

"What?"

Ron pointed to a space right next to theirs that, sure enough, had a sign with 'Potter' on it.

"Mum! Dad! The space is right here!" Lucas said.

"Really? Thank goodness." James said and went over to Lucas. He brought out a tent from his backpack. Harry sat on the grass, waiting for his father to build the tent. To his surprise, his father handed the tent to Lily, saying that he didn't know how to set it up.

Lily sighed. "Say no more."

James grinned.

"Huh? Why should we put it up by hand? We can use magic can't we?" Lucas asked, puzzled.

"It's anti-Muggle security, pea-brain. Honestly, why don't you pick up a book for once?" Harry told him.

"Shut up, know-it-all. I'm the Boy-Who-Lived! I don't need to do that 'cause I have people who do it for me."

"Yeah, the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Be-A-Pain." Harry muttered under his breath. Lucas glowered at him.

James and Lily didn't hear them as they were busy with the tent. Busy with it for ten minutes now to be exact. It could have been erected by now but James turned out to be a hindrance rather than a help.

"How _long_ do we have to wait? I'm starving." Lucas whined. It was true. They hadn't eaten anything so far. "Why is it taking so long?"

Harry couldn't believe it but he, though inwardly, agreed with Lucas. He was starting to feel tired as his illness sapped up his strength again. He wanted to rest so badly. Harry looked around him and when he was certain that no-one was looking, he waved his hand secretly and the tent set itself up in twenty seconds.

"James! I told you we're not allowed to use magic!" Lily yelled.

"But-It wasn't me! Honest!" said James.

"Who was it then?"

"Gah! Who cares? The tent's up!" Lucas told them.

Lily let the matter go, seeing as no-one came to reprimand them, and entered the tent to make breakfast. James followed her inside and Lucas went next. Harry stood up from his sitting position, readjusted his hold on his backpack, and went inside. He felt his jaw drop when he saw the inside.

The area he was in looked like it was a living room. It had beautifully designed armchairs and a sofa placed opposite of a very wide flatscreen TV. There were beanbags and pillows on the floor. There were smaller tables around the area with flower vases and small chairs next to it. Beyond the "living room" there was an area that had a small kitchen, where Lily was busying herself at, and a table with four chairs surrounding it, where Lucas was lounging on. There were two hallways leading out of the room where, Harry guessed, the rooms where at.

"Finally!" Lucas said loudly. This broke Harry out of his shock. He turned his head to the kitchen to see Lucas gobbling down their mother's first batch made.

"James! Breakfast!" she called. James came out of the on the right hallway and immediately went to the kitchen.

"You too, Harry. Come on." Lily said.

"No thanks. I'd like to get some rest. I'm not feeling so good." Harry told her.

"What?" Lily said and immediately checked up on him.

"Mum, I just need rest." Harry said, rolling his eyes at her.

"If you're sure then...your bedroom is on the left hallway. Just pick any room you want."

Harry nodded and trudged towards the direction his mother told him. He found himself faced with five doors; three on the left and two on the right. Harry picked the door nearest to the exit. He entered the room, let his backpack fall freely from his shoulder, and let himself drop on the bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

Lily came to check on him a few minutes later. She took off Harry's glasses and placed them on the bedside table. Next were his shoes. She readjusted his position and placed a blanket over him. She stood back and looked at Harry's sleeping form. She frowned when it just occurred to her that Harry was very light. Her frowns became deeper when she saw how thin and pale he was. She frowned even more when she saw the dark shadows under his eyes. _'Come to think of it,' _Lily thought. _'Harry becomes tired rather easily these days. He rarely eats anymore, well except that time when I allowed him to eat something other than the medicated food. Why haven't St. Mungo's sent their weekly letter? It should've arrived days ago.'_ She bit her lip and glanced once more at Harry. She ran her fingers through his hair and planted a kiss on his forehead. Then, she dimmed the lights and left.

**That night...**

"Yes! It's almost time!" Lucas said happily. The match was going to begin in about an hour. The Potter males (excluding Harry, who was still asleep) and the Weasley males talked about it all day. Harry woke up at noon, only to be force-fed by Lily. Harry was at least thankful that it wasn't that horrible goop he was forced to eat all the time. He went back to sleep after that.**  
**

"I know, Lucas." James said, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'd better wake Harry up." said Lily, standing up from her seat and going to Harry's bedroom.

"Dad? Can I go over to Ron's? He said something about souvenirs." Lucas said.

"Sure. You wanna buy something while you're out?" James asked. Lucas nodded and James gave him a small sack of galleons. "Buy some Omnioculars will you?"

"Will do." Lucas said as he dashed out of the tent. James chuckled.

"Where's Lucas?" Lily asked when she came back. Harry was with her, rubbing the sleep off his eyes.

"He went out to buy some souvenirs with Ron. He'll be back before the match starts." James answered.

"Really?" Harry asked sleepily.

"Look alive, Harry! The match is about to begin." James said enthusiastically.

Harry smiled a bit. _'Look alive...heh...it feels weird, hearing it when you're dying.'_

They waited in silence for Lucas to return. None of them were interested in talking to pass the time. Lucas finally came back forty-five minutes later with four omnioculars, some stuff that showed support to either Ireland or Bulgaria, and a full set of figurines of the entire Ireland and Bulgarian Team.

"The path to the stadium just lit up dad. It's time!" Lucas said as he distributed the omnioculars.

"What? Then let's hurry up and go!" James said.

Harry smiled. This was it. It was time for the match. Lily grabbed his hand and dragged him outside to where James and Lucas were.

* * *

**Author's**** Note:** that's Chapter 3. I know you really wanted Harry to go to the world cup, **TrisanaSanche, **and here's the answer to that. Yay! Quidditch is next!

**Anything you recognized as J. K. Rowling's work is rightfully hers.**

Took me quite a while to update but here it is. Hope you liked it. And please review.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

-AnimeAddict1059 :3


	4. Chapter 4: The Match!

**Author's Note:** WOW! 2000+ Hits! WOHOOO!

Thanks so much! Especially to those who reviewed. I was just like...WOW.

I'M SOOOO SORRY! T-T Sorry it took me SOOOOOOOO long to update. I'm very busy now that school's started. Please forgive me!

**Anything you recognize as J. K. Rowling's work is rightfully hers.**

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Harry Potter.

Anyway, On with Chapter 4!

* * *

Keeping a tight hold of his omnioculars, Harry followed his family through the thick clouds of people pushing their way towards the stadium. His wrist really hurt now as Lily still had her hold on it. The noise around them had now seriously started to tick him off but he couldn't really blame them. James and Lucas were in the lead, grinning identically.

They walked through the wood for twenty minutes until at last, they emerged on the other side, and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though Harry could only see a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding the pitch, he could tell that ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it.

"Hurry up, you two!" James said, his grin still in place. Lily glared at him and quickened her pace, dragging Harry with her.

James and Lucas had already reached the entrance by the time they caught sight of them again. Harry just let his mother drag him around like a dog on a leash, out for a walk with its master.

"Prime seats!" he heard the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Mr. Potter, and as high as you can go."

They climbed up the stairs, going up to the highest point, and found themselves in a small box. It was situated exactly halfway between the golden goalposts. About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here, and Harry, filing into the front seats with his family, looked down on a scene that he could never have imagined.

Thousands of witches and wizards were noisily talking, arguing or cheering on the stands below. The flags of Bulgaria and Ireland were being waved around by their supporters with the national anthem mixing in with the other. A gigantic board was set at the opposite of the Top Box, showing advertisements, as though a giant hand was writing on it.

Harry sat back on his seat and closed his eyes. He still couldn't believe that he was actually in the world cup. He begged his dad to take him on the previous one four years ago but James simply refused and he took Lucas with him to the game.

Harry opened his eyes when he heard someone coming. It turned out to be the Weasleys and Hermione. Ron immediately pushed him out of his seat in order for him to sit next to Lucas. Harry was knocked down on the floor hard. Sighing, Harry got up, dusted his clothes and went to the second row, behind Hermione. James and Lily weren't paying attention to them as they were arguing about...something.

Then Harry saw someone familiar. "Dobby?" He whispered to a small figure a few chairs away from him.

"Did you just call me, Dobby, sir?" squeaked the figure. House-elves tend to have high squeaky voices but it's voice was somewhat higher than Dobby's. Harry thought it must be a female.

"Oh, I-I'm sorry. I just thought you were someone I knew." Harry said.

"But I knows Dobby, too, sir!" the elf said.

"You do?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yes sir. Dobby and Winky are friends, sir." she said.

"Winky? Who's Winky" Harry asked.

"Winky is being me, sir." Winky the house-elf said.

"Ah, I see. Nice to meet you Winky." Harry said.

"Yes. 'Tis an honor indeed to meet you's, Harry Potter, sir." said Winky.

"So, how's freedom suiting Dobby?"

"Ah, sir, meaning no disrespect sir, I is not thinking you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is freeing him."

"Why?" Harry asked. Winky then told him about how Dobby was now, how he he never got another position, how he never got a new family to serve, and how he was now asking for payment for his work. Harry just nodded at her and turned back to his family.

"Wicked!" he heard Ron say. He was using his omnioculars to scan the crowd on the other side of the stadium. "Look! I can make the bloke down there pick his nose again...and again...and again..."

"What? Let me see!" Lucas said.

Harry rolled his eyes at them. He was now BORED of waiting for the match to start. The Box was now gradually filling with people. Lucas would stand up every once in a while to shake hands with some important people at the Ministry, including Cornelius Fudge and the Bulgarian Prime Minister. But when Fudge introduced them to the Malfoys, whose son was NOT in good terms with Lucas and Ron, Lucas simply just sat back down, never acknowledging their presence.

Finally, after waiting for a VERY long time, Ludo Bagman, who was commentating, arrived and cast a Sonorus Charm on himself. **"Ladies and Gentlemen...welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"**

The crowd roared. Bagman continued and introduced the mascots for each team. The Bulgarians brought Veela and there were Leprechauns for the Irish. Once the mascots were done with their presentations, Bagman spoke up. **"And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaaaaand - KRUM!"**

Lucas and Ron cheered noisily, now standing up on their seats, which earned them weird looks from the people sitting on the box. Draco Malfoy sniggered and his father sneered at the Boy-Who-Lived's behavior.

**"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team! Presenting - Conolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaaaaaaand - LYNCH!" **Bagman roared. **"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa!"**

A small wizard strode onto the pitch. He was completely bald and had a very large mustache, which Harry thought, could rival his uncle's from his mother's side. He had only seen him once but he remembered what he looked like. The referee was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. He kicked it open and four balls burst into the air: the Quaffle, two Bludgers and (Harry saw it for the briefest moment before it sped out of sight) the golden Snitch. Mostafa shot off into the air right after the balls, giving a sharp blast on his whistle.

**"Aaaaaaand they're OFF! And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran!" **

It was Quidditch as Harry had never seen it played before. He was pressing the Omnioculars so hard to his eyes that his glasses were cutting into the bridge of his nose. The speed of the players was incredible - the Chasers were throwing the Quaffle to each other so fast that Bagman only had time to say their names. Harry spun the slow dial on his Omnioculars and pressed the 'play by play' button. He was immediately watching the match in slow motion, while glittering purple lettering flashed across the lenses, and the noise of the crowd pounded against his eardrums.

"_Hawkshead Attacking Formation_" he read, as he watched the three Irish Chasers zoom closely together. Troy in the center, slightly ahead of the other two, bearing down upon the Bulgarians. _'Porskoff Ploy' _flashed up next, as Troy made as though to dart upwards with the Quaffle, drawing away the Bulgarian Chaser Ivanova, and dropping the Quaffle to Moran. One of the Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov, swung hard at a passing Bludger with his small club, knocking it into Moran's path; Moran ducked to avoid the Bludger and dropped the Quaffle; and Levski, soaring beneath, caught it -

**"TROY SCORES!"** roared Bagman, and the stadium shuddered with a roar of applause and cheers. **"Ten-zero to Ireland!"**

"What?" Harry yelled, looking wildly around through his Omnioculars. "But Levski's got the Quaffle!"

"Harry, dear, if you're not going to watch at normal speed then you're going to miss things!" shouted his mother. Furious with himself, Harry spun the speed dial of his Omnioculars to normal speed and resumed watching.

Harry knew enough about Quidditch to see that the Irish Chasers were superb. They worked as a seamless team, appearing to read each other's minds by the way they positioned themselves. Within ten minutes, Ireland had scored twice more, bringing the lead to thirty-zero.

The match became still faster, but more brutal. Volkov and Volkanov, the Bulgarian Beaters, were whacking the Bludgers as fiercely as possible at the Irish Chasers, and were starting to prevent them from using their best moves; twice they managed to scatter them, and then, finally, Ivanova managed to break through their ranks, dodge the Keeper, Ryan, and score Bulgaria's first goal.

Mr. Weasley and his father warned everyone to cover their ears. Harry did so but he wanted to keep his attention on the match. Finally, when Harry glanced down at the pitch, the Veela stopped dancing and Bulgaria had the Quaffle in their position.

**"Dimitrov! Levski! Dimitrov! Ivanova - oh, I say!" **roared Bagman.

All of the witches and wizards watching gasped as the two Seekers, Krum and Lynch, plummeted through the center of the Chasers, so fast that it looked as though they had just jumped from aeroplanes without parachutes. Harry followed their descent through his Omnioculars, squinting to see where the Snitch was -

"They're going to crash!" screamed Hermione.

She was half right - at the very last second, Viktor Krum pulled out of the dive and spiralled off. Lynch, however, hit the ground with a dull thud that could be heard throughout the stadium. The Irish supporters groaned from their seats.

"That Lynch was stupid to follow Krum." James moaned. "Krum was feinting! What a fool!"

"James, calm down. It's just a game. Besides, Lynch wouldn't know if Krum would be feinting." Lily reproved.

"But he's a Seeker!" James reasoned. "He should know."

"James..." Lily said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

**"It's time out!" **yelled Bagman. **"As trained mediwizards hurry onto the pitch to examine Aidan** **Lynch!"**

Harry hastily pressed the 'replay' and 'play by play' buttons on his Omnioculars, twiddled the speed dial, and put them back up to his eyes.

He watched as Krum and Lynch dived again in slow motion. _'Wronski Feint - dangerous Seeker diversion' _read the shining purple lettering across his lenses. He saw Krum's face contorted with concentration as he pulled out of the dive just in time, while Lynch was flattened, and he understood - Krum hadn't seen the Snitch at all; he was just making Lynch copy him. Harry had never seen anyone fly like that; Krum hardly looked as though he was using a broomstick at all; he moved so easily through the air that it looked as though he was unsupported and weightless.

Harry turned his Omnioculars back to normal, and focused them on Krum. He was circling high above Lynch, who was now being revived by mediwizards with cups of potion. Harry, focusing still more closely on Krum's face, saw his dark eyes darting all over the ground a hundred feet below. He was using the time while Lynch was revived to look for the Snitch without interference.

At last, Lynch was back on his feet. The Irish supporters cheered loudly, happy that their seeker was now, well ... functioning. Mostafa blew his whistle and the Chasers moved into action with a skill unrivalled by anything Harry had seen so far.

After fifteen more fast and furious minutes, Ireland had pulled ahead by ten more goals. They were now leading by one hundred and thirty points to ten, and the game was starting to get dirtier.

As Mullet shot towards the goalposts yet again, clutching the Quaffle tightly under her arm, the Bulgarian Keeper, Zograf, flew out to meet her. What happened next was over so quickly that Harry didn't catch it, but a scream of rage from the Irish crowds, and Mostafa's long, shrill whistle blast, told him it had been a foul.

**"And Mostafa takes the Bulgarian Keeper to task for cobbing - excessive use of elbows!" **Bagman yelled. **"And - yes, it's a penalty to Ireland!"**

When Bagman said that, a fight immediately ensued down the pitch. The Veelas and leprechauns were angrily trying to show up each other. Harry stuffed his fingers in his ears but his eyes were open so he saw Hermione tug at his brother's arm, pointing down the pitch, while giggling. Harry looked at the direction she was pointing at and saw the referee land in front of a Veela. He flexed his muscles in front of her and was smoothing his mustache exitedly.

Ludo Bagman yelled some orders and a mediwizard came running towards Mostafa and kicked him hard on the shins. Mostafa stopped in his actions and shouted at the Veela.

**"And unless I'm very much mistaken, Mostafa is actually attempting to send off the Bulgarian Team Mascots! Now_ there's _something we haven't seen before...oh, this could turn nasty"**

The Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov and Vulchanov, had landed on either side of Mostafa, ad began arguing furiously with him. Harry groaned in his seat. The match was turning quite nasty and the stress around them was starting to affect him. He laid back on his seat, waiting for them to stop arguing. Finally, Mostafa gave two short blasts on his whistle.

**"Two penalties for Ireland! And Volkov and Vulchanov better get back on those brooms...yes...there they go...and Troy takes the Quaffle..."**

Play now reached a level of ferocity beyond anything they had yet seen. The Beaters on both sides were acting without mercy: Volkov and Vulchanov in particular seemed not to care whether their clubs made contact with Bludger or human, as they swung them violently through the air. Dimitrov shot straight at Moran, who had the Quaffle, nearly knocking her off her broom.

"_FOUL!_" roared the Irish supporters.

**"Foul!"** echoed Bagman. **"Dimitrov skins Moran - deliberately flying to collide there - and it's got to be another penalty - yes, there's the whistle!"**

The mascots had once again, started another fight but this time, the Veela had transformed into their monstrous selves, throwing handfuls of fire at the leprechauns. Ministry wizards were flooding onto the field to separate the Veela and the leprechauns, but with little success; meanwhile, the pitched battle below was nothing to the one above. Harry turned this way and that, staring through his Omnioculars, as the Quaffle changed hands with the speed of a bullet -

**"Levski - Dimitrov - Moran - Troy - Mullet - Ivanova - Moran again - Moran - MORAN SCORES!"**

The cheers of the Irish supporters were barely heard over the shrieks of the Veela, the blasts now issuing from the Ministry members' wands, and the furious roars of the Bulgarians. The game recommenced immediately; now Levski had the Quaffle, now Dimitrov -

The Irish Beater Quigley swung heavily at a passing Bludger, and hit it as hard as possible towards Krum, who did not duck quickly enough. It hit him hard in the face.

There was a deafening groan from the crowd; Krum's nose looked broken, there was blood everywhere, but Hassan Mostafa didn't blow his whistle. He had become distracted, and Harry couldn't blame him; one of the Veela had thrown a handful of fire and set his broomtail alight.

Harry wanted someone to realize that Krum was injured; even though he was supporting Ireland, Krum was the most exciting player on the pitch. Ron, who was on the front row was yelling about it.

"_Look at Lynch!_" Harry yelled. Everyone around him stared at him awkwardly. "_GAH! Lynch - look at _LYNCH!"

Lynch had suddenly gone into a dive, and Harry was quite sure that this was no Wronski Feint; this was the real thing...

"He's seen the Snitch!" Harry shouted. "He's seen it! Look at him go!"

Half the crowd seemed to have realized what was happening, the Irish supporters rose in a great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on...but Krum was on his tail. How he could see where he was going, Harry had no idea; there were flecks of blood flying through the air behind him, but he was drawing level with Lynch now, as the pair of them hurtled towards the ground again -

"They're going to crash!" shrieked Hermione.

"They're not!" roared Ron.

"Lynch is!" yelled Harry.

And he was right. Lynch hit the ground with tremendous force, and was immediately stampeded by a horde of angry Veela.

"The Snitch, where's the Snitch?" bellowed Lucas, in front.

"He's got it, idiot! Krum's got it - it's all over!" shouted Harry.

Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand.

The scoreboard was flashing 'BULGARIA: ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY, IRELAND: ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY' across the crowd, who didn't seem to have realized what happened. Then, slowly, as though a great jumbo jet was revving up, the rumbling from the Irish supporters grew louder and louder and erupted into screams of delight.

**"IRELAND WIN!"** Bagman shouted, like the Irish, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden end of the match. **"KRUM GETS THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WIN - good Lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"**

"What did he catch the Snitch for?" Lucas bellowed, even as he jumped up and down, applauding with hands over his head. "He ended it when Ireland were a hundred and sixty points ahead, the idiot!"

"He knew they were never going to catch up," Harry shouted back over all the noise, also applauding loudly, "the Irish Chasers were too good...he wanted to end it on his terms, that's all..."

He watched as Krum landed and was immediately swarmed by the mediwizards as soon as his feet touched the ground. After a few more minutes of watching the pitch, he put his Omnioculars in his pocket and watched the other people in the Top Box. He chuckled when Fudge, who was miming for the Bulgarian Prime Minister for the whole day, found out that the Bulgarian Minister can actually speak English.

Bagman announced that the two competing teams were to be brought to the Top Box, where the Cup was waiting. He clapped politely as the two teams were called and watched as the Irish team took the Cup and did a lap of honor around the pitch.

"They'll be talking about this for ages." James said as he stood up. "Well, let's go boys, Lily..."

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**Author's Note: **HEEEEEEEEYYYY! ... Uh oh ... I AM SO SOORRYYY! T-T

IT TOOK ME SOOOO LOOOOOOOOONGGG TO UPDATE!

I'm sure some of you get this kind of exitement after uploading the VERY first chapter of your story but after you post a few more chapters...you just lose that feeling... *sigh*

But don't worry. I am very intent on finishing this story.

Thanks for reading this chapter!

-AnimeAddict1059 :3


	5. Chapter 5: The Mark

**Author's Note: **PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! *whimpers* I've been sooo busy with school and the projects are driving me crazy (I had to recite a REALLY LOOONG POEM in front of lots of people! You do NOT want to experience that! Well, I guess some of you could but THE TEACHER IS REALLY SCARY! ... And we're supposed to do a debate sometime around this month T_T)

Anyways, here's Chapter 5...

* * *

"That was some game…" James said as he sat back on the armchair with a cup of coffee in one hand. Lucas was sitting on the chair next to his and, now that James brought the topic up again, started talking about the match animatedly.

"... And then Krum was like ... whoosh!" Lucas said, waving his arms around. "And then Lynch was following him, what a sucker! Then he was like - WHAM! Wahahahahahahaha!"

"You shouldn't laugh about other people's misfortunes!" Lily scolded. Lucas scratched the back of his head and apologized.

Lily shook it off and gave the cup of cocoa she was carrying to Harry. Harry mumbled his thanks and took a sip.

"You know Harry, I just can't help but wonder why St. Mungo's didn't send their letter yet. I - " Harry choked on his drink and started coughing and hacking. Lily immediately went over to help him. Once Harry was a bit better, Lily asked him, "Why did you choke when I said that? Is something wrong?"

"*cough* No ... I was just ... just surprised when you said that. I didn't know you were monitoring my visits to St. Mungo's." Harry lied.

"Well, why shouldn't we monitor your visits? We're your parents." Lily said.

"But you didn't tell me." said Harry. He already vowed not to tell his parents about that letter from St. Mungo's. "I'm the one who's sick here you know. Therefore, I should know anything you do as long as it's related to my sickness."

"I understand but really, it should be common sense."

Harry kept quiet, not really wanting an argument. Instead, he listened to James and Lucas discussing the match. A little over 10:30, Lily ordered them to go to sleep. Lucas and James immediately got up and went to their respective rooms, but not without saying goodnight to the others first. Harry did that too, minus the "goodnight" part (what was the point of saying "goodnight" if nobody even told you "goodnight" or at least notice?). The only thing in his mind was the soft and comfortable, warm bed, waiting for him in his room.

Once he had changed into his pj's, he turned off the lamp, took of his glasses and lied down on his bed on his back. Since they were, after all, staying in a tent, Harry would occasionally see bright spots of light pass by, probably the leprechauns. Even though it was almost eleven, the noise of the crowd still hadn't come down. Who knew the Irish liked celebrating so much?

As two or three bright yellow spots passed by, Harry finally drifted off to sleep. But no sooner than he'd felt like he closed his eyes, he awoke to loud screaming, very much different from the merry yells from the Irish supporters. Loud blasts would be heard occasionally but it was nothing like the fireworks that some wizards set up to celebrate. Yup, The atmosphere around them had changed.

"S'matter?" he asked groggily as he tried to sit up. A loud blast outside brought him to his senses almost immediately. (He fell off the bed when he heard the blast, really...)

Harry quickly got up and turned on the lights. He grabbed his glasses from the bedside table, as well as his wand. The screams became louder with every passing minute. Grabbing a jacket, he scrambled to get out of his room. He found his parents dragging Lucas outside of his room and both of them had their wands held tightly in their hands. Lily shoved Lucas' wand in his hand and tossed him a jacket before they got out of the tent.

The campsite was in total chaos. Hundreds of witches and wizards darted off in every direction, obviously panicking. Lots of tents were on fire. The occasional loud blasts could still be heard. Not to mention the screaming...and frightened yells...and the chorus of voices reciting spells...

A crowd of wizards, tightly packed and moving together with wands pointing straight upwards, was marching slowly across the field. Harry squinted to at them...they didn't appear to have faces...then he realized that their heads were hooded and their faces masked. High above them, floating along in mid-air, four struggling figures were being contorted into grotesque shapes. It was as though the masked wizards on the ground were puppeteers, and the people above them were marionettes operated by invisible strings that rose from the wands into the air. Two of the figures were very small.

More wizards were joining the marching group, laughing and pointing up at the floating bodies. Tents crumpled and fell as the marching crowd swelled. Once or twice Harry saw one of the marchers blast a tent out of his way with his wand. Several caught fire. The screaming grew louder.

The floating people were suddenly illuminated as they passed over a burning tent, and Harry recognized one of them - Mr. Roberts, the campsite manager. The other three looked as though they might be his wife and children. One of the marchers below flipped Mrs. Roberts upside-down with his wand; her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers; she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted.

"That's sick," Harry muttered, watching the smallest Muggle child, who had begun to spin like a top, sixty feet above the ground, his head flopping limply from side to side. "Oh, That is really sick..."

Harry finally tore his eyes away from the horrible scene and went back to his search for his family. The task was becoming a bit hard as witches and wizards pushed him, elbowed him, shoved him, and flew past him as they all scrambled to get away from the marching crowd. He couldn't really push back because, well, what can he do? He was a tall, skinny, and pale fourteen year-old who was diagnosed with an unknown illness and because of that was very weak. The best Harry could do was to squeeze through the thick crowd.

Finally, after squeezing through five or six groups of people, he came to the edge of a forest. Gasping and panting, slightly, he walked towards a tree a little way inside the forest. Thinking that he was a bit safer in here now, Harry sat down and rested.

"Well, well, well...look who we have here...Harry Potter." a cold voice drawled.

Harry turned his head quickly to the direction that the voice came from. A look of hate and anger flashed on his face when he saw the person talking. Leaning on a tree opposite to his, was non-other than Draco Malfoy, the one person who could possibly rival his brother's arrogance, stupidity, stuck-up attitude and "flashiness". Lucas and Draco might loath each other but he knew that those two were more alike than they think. And he disliked anyone with those personalities.

"What are doing here Malfoy? Shouldn't you be with your parents and should be escaping from here?" Harry asked him.

Malfoy showed a look of indifference. "I could say the same for you. Or, let me guess, they're with your brother. What can you do, really? You're just second priority compared to your brother, that pig who calls himself a savior. Savior my arse..."

"But aren't you becoming second priority right now Malfoy?" Harry shot back. "They're with that crowd there, aren't they? Seems like they prefer torturing Muggles, causing chaos and serving Voldemort than to be with you."

"O-ho, I'm impressed. You actually dare speak his, the Dark Lord's, name. But then again, you might just be stupid. Shame, really. You would have been great in Slytherin. Unfortunately, _Dumbledore_, wants to keep a light family's reputation...unsoiled."

"Why, pray tell, would I want to be in Slytherin? Dark Lords? Pfft. There's been a lot of Dark Lords that had been recorded in history, and what happened to them? THEY WERE DEFEATED!"

"Don't pretend that you hate Slytherin, Potter."

"Pretend to-what!? _Pretend _to hate Slytherin?"

"You were almost sorted into Slytherin, were you not?"

"What? How did you-?"

Malfoy smirked. "That,will have to remain secret, Potter."

Both of them had their eyes locked on each other. Neither of them moved as their eyes stared hard into each other, decoding each of their blank expressions.

Harry broke their eye contact first. He stood up, glared at Malfoy (who held a smug look on his face), and marched deeper into the forest. "That Malfoy really makes my blood boil!" Harry said.

"Sorted into Slytherin? Me? Why would he..." then his voice trailed off. The memory of his Sorting suddenly came to his mind.

_..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X.._

_"Potter, Harry!"_

_A series of whispers erupted in the Great Hall as his name was called. Nevertheless, Harry climbed up the stone steps, even though his legs were wobbling. Not really a sign of a true Gryffindor. But that was the one thing he was afraid of right now. Being a Gryffindor..._

_His father was a Gryffindor..._

_His mother was a Gryffindor..._

_Heck, Lucas would probably be in Gryffindor and he hasn't even been sorted yet!_

_Everyone in the Potter family were Gryffindors!_

_But what about him? Weak, puny, little Harry Potter? He wouldn't be at Hogwarts right now if it wasn't for his uncles. His parents, or rather, St. Mungos, were strongly against the idea of him going to school. They said he would never last one week in school, what with all the stress and pressure the students had to endure. But Harry was tired of staying in bed. He wanted to do something more with his life. He didn't want to be someone who lies around in his bed, waiting for his time to die. To do nothing, to have huge amounts of inedible and strange goop shoved down in his mouth, to have healers doing unnecessary things to him..._

_No. He was putting his foot down. He had made up his mind and there was nothing his parents could do about it. He, Harry James Potter was going to Hogwarts. _

_And here he was right now, knees shaking, feeling nauseated, and was about to buckle up under his own weight (which isn't much) and fall down on the floor and faint. _

_Yep, he forgot to mention it but, Harry James Potter was also VERY shy. The complete opposite of his brother. _

_Although it took him a long time, Harry finally reached the chair and he sat down. Before he could even see the many faces that were staring at him, McGonagall had put the hat over his head. Harry waited for a while, thinking about the horrors of what might happen if he wouldn't be sorted into Gryffindor. He was so focused on those possibilities that you couldn't have imagined his surprise when the Hat spoke to him._

_"Afraid of not being able to become a Gryffindor, eh?" it said. "This Sorting...this is not for your parents boy. This is for you and it is my job to figure out which house you are best suited in."_

_"Don't scare me like that!" Harry hissed mentally, not quite over the shock that he had received._

_"I get that a lot so there's no point in telling me... Now, let's see here...ooh, smart one aren't you? Yes, yes very smart...a genius, if I may...but you don't feel like you're a Ravenclaw, no...There's something...something that makes you stand out a bit. No, no, Hufflepuff's out of the question. No, don't get me wrong boy, you **are **hardworking and very loyal but Hufflepuff won't suit you...no, not at all. _

_"Hahaha...yes...now **there's**__ a good choice...Slytherin."_

_What little color left on Harry's face was drained completely. "S-Slytherin?"_

_"Yes. I didn't see how I didn't come to this before! Slytherin, boy, Slytherin!"_

_"What? NO! Anything but Slytherin, PLEASE! I'm already a disappointment to my parents! Please, anything but Slytherin!"_

_"But, Slytherin suits you fine boy. Now, don't think Slytherin is evil. Yes, most of the evil dark lords came from Slytherin, but not all people from Slytherin are bad. Slytherin is best for you."_

_"No, PLEASE! Anything! Just not Slytherin!"_

_"If you just rethink about this you-"_

_"Not Slytherin! Don't put me in Slytherin!"_

_"You just need to-"_

_"No! I don't want to go to Slytherin!"_

_"But you'll be-"_

_"No! Not Slytherin!"_

_"ALRIGHT! I won't put you in Slytherin! Dear Merlin! If you aren't going to Slytherin ("Yes! Don't put me in Slytherin!") then you'd better be a...**GRYFFINDOR**!_

_..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X..X.._

Harry shook his head at the memory. He was right about Lucas being a Gryffindor. His parents were so happy when they got the news. They sent a VERY long letter to Lucas, congratulating him. Harry received nothing, although he was mentioned once in his parents' letter.

Harry took a look around. It looked like he was in the middle part of the forest. Unlike the chaos of the areas near the campsite, the place he was in was quiet. Being alone isn't really a big deal for Harry. He had been alone most of the time but this time, dangerous people were involved.

Of course, he may not look like it, but Harry could defend himself pretty well. He knew, or rather, he invented deadly spells, jinxes and curses above Auror Level. One hit from one of his spells could permanently damage his enemies, both physically and mentally. Also Harry was a highly-skilled Occlumens and Legilimens. A few more years from now and he would be able to surpass Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape.

A sudden rustling noise broke the silence. Harry, alert as ever, jumped up and held his wand up, his first deadly spell on the tip of his tongue. A bush, just up ahead, rustled, but before Harry could even fire his first spell, a voice, a man's voice, yelled, _"MORSMORDRE!"_

A green ... something ... fired itself at the sky and slowly took the form of a skull with a snake coming out of it's mouth and wrapped itself on it.

A sudden pain suddenly came on Harry's forehead and he had to buckle up to try and numb it down. This pain was different from the other ones. Well, one thing about it was that it was by far, the most painful one, and two, it lasted longer than the others did. Harry didn't know why but he felt the need to look up at the shape in the sky. But the farther he tilted his head, the more intense the pain becomes. But the odd feeling wouldn't go away. Enduring it, Harry forced himself to look up at the night sky.

The moment his eyes went in contact with the green symbol, some sort of spark ignited inside him. Like some sort of connection was formed. He didn't know why, but he felt so alive. Like he was being energized by the symbol.

Then, horrible thoughts started to fill his head.

Murder... Torture... Blood... Screams... Terror...

"No... NO!"

Kill... Torture... Murder... Fear... Malice...

"AAARGH! Stop it!" Harry screamed, clutching his throbbing head.

Kill... Must kill... Torture... Terrorize...

"No! Stop it!"

Kill them! Now!

"AAAAARRGHHHHH!"

And a sudden wave of energy was released around him. It was so strong that even the trees around him were forced to bend. A crater had formed below him due to the strength of the wave. And as fast as the energy had come, it was gone.

Feeling drained, Harry collapsed to his knees. He fell face forward, seeing blurred outlines of people coming near him. Before he lost consciousness, Harry was able to mutter one last word.

"... _Voldemort_..."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Yeah, Yeah, I've gotten bad at writing. Don't rub it in. Hate it? Too rushed?

GIVE ME AN HONEST OPINION! (No I'm not shouting ^_^)

Thanks for reading this chapter!

-AnimeAddict1059:3


	6. Chapter 6: Welcome back, Harry!

"Urgh…" Harry said as he tried to get up. But the second he did that, his body received immediate pain. "Gack!" Harry exclaimed and then examined his surroundings. All around his bed were numerous machines that were either beeping or pumping air or flashing.

Harry groaned. _'Not this again…'_

The machines around him sure brought back memories...and not the good kind. He practically grew up with these machines. Not exactly a source of comfort. And of course, where would he be right now if these machines weren't accompanied by his other "friends", medicine. Harry shuddered.

The door opened and his mother entered. She noticed that Harry was awake. She immediately went over to him.

"Harry..." she said as she ran her hands through his hair. "I'll call the Healers and tell them you're awake..."

"Mum? Hang on... h-how long have I been out?" Harry asked her.

"You've been out for two and a half weeks. The Healers almost finalized that you're probably in a coma."

"T-Two...two and a half weeks!?"

Lily nodded. "You've already missed a week of school."

"What!?"

"Don't worry Harry. We've already sent a letter to Hogwarts." Lily stayed quiet for a while and she held of Harry's hand. "Harry... what happened?"

"Huh?"

"What happened? I-In the forest. Harry, we just found you there, unconscious and barely breathing. And what's worse, we found you right under the mark. What happened?"

"I...I don't-" Then Harry stopped. Memories of that night ran inside his head. He was running away from the people in masks. He saw Malfoy. Then...then...he heard someone say a spell. The mark appeared on the sky. He looked at it and...and...well, something happened.

"Harry?" Lily said, breaking Harry's train of thoughts.

"Huh? What?" Harry said.

"Do you remember anything? Anything at all."

"...n-no." Harry told her.

"A-Are you sure?" Lily asked with concern evident in her voice.

"...no, sorry." Lily looked at him a bit uneasily. "But... don't worry mum. As soon as I remember something, I'll tell you..." Harry said hoping to at least calm her down. But he couldn't stop himself from saying, 'Probably...' in his mind.

Lily, who felt a LITTLE bit assured, stood up, kissed him, and left. Harry watched as she closed the door and listened to her footsteps as they died down. Harry let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding and looked outside the window.

He began to think back to that night. Right after when the mark had appeared on the sky.

Then, Harry remembered. He remembered having the urge to look at the mark. That he MUST look at it even if the pain on his forehead became very intense that it felt like his head was about to be split in two. That whatever happens, he just had to look at it. And he finally did. And the second he saw the mark, some kind of spark went up inside him. An unknown energy swelled inside him, filling him to the brim.

And suddenly, for the first time in his life, he felt so...alive. He was so full of energy at that moment. Hell, he even wanted to run a marathon, or swim a mile, or run to the top of the highest mountain. But, the wonderful feeling disappeared shortly.

Horrible thoughts started to form in his mind. _Murder... Torture... Kill... Pain... Fear... Blood..._ These kind of thoughts ran through his mind. It was controlling his body. At that very moment, although he might try to deny it, Harry actually wanted to follow those thoughts. He actually wanted to kill someone, or inflict pain... to witness fear... to smell blood...

But something inside of him tried to fight it off. They were locked in their internal battle. And as both sides fought for dominance, more pain was given to Harry. Until at last, the dark thoughts were driven out, and so was the energy. All had been released in a very powerful explosion.

As he started to lose consciousness, a high cold laughter rang in his ears.

* * *

"Hey, Lils, Lucas just sent us a letter." James said when he saw Lily coming down the stairs.

"Oh...okay. I'll be with you in a moment." Lily said, a bit distractedly and she left the room. She returned a few minutes later and sat next to James on the sofa.

"Everything okay, hon?" James asked.

"Huh? What? Oh... yes, yes. Everything's fine. Don't worry."

"Are you sure? You look a bit uneasy."

"Uneasy? Why would I be?" Lily asked him.

"Nothing. I just thought that you look a bit uneasy."

"I'm just a bit cranky James. I haven't had much sleep lately, and you know it."

"Right... Harry."

"You know, he finally woke up a few minutes ago." Lily said, hoping James would at least be happy, what with the mood around them.

"Really? That's good then." James replied, a bit unenthusiastic.

Lily waited for him to say something more, but when he didn't, she finally brought up Lucas' letter. "Sooo, where's his letter?"

"Right about here!" James said, his energy returning.

Lily grabbed the letter from him and read it aloud.

_Dear Mum and Dad,_

_Everything's going great here! I met up with my friends and, Dad, guess what? We totally pulled the best prank so far ON SNAPE! I wish you could've seen him! He looked so ridiculous that even a boggart would've been stunned! _

_ I'm totally bummed about this year though. NO QUIDDITCH! As in NONE! Why would they do that just so this Triwizard Tournament thingy can be held? I mean, how mean can they get? What's so great about this thing anyway?_

_School's really boring right now. The lessons so far are only reviews so It's okay to sleep through classes right?_

_Can you send my broom together with your reply? I forgot to pack it._

_Lucas_

"He seems okay." James said after Lily finished reading the letter.

"Okay? _Okay!?_ He just pranked a professor!" Lily told him.

"He PRANKED Snape!"

"He's still a professor!"

"Dumbledore's the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Lily! As long as the man's around he can't lay a finger on Lucas."

"You- I just- I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" Lily yelled and stormed off.

* * *

**One week later**

"You're sure you got everything?" asked Lily as she handed a scarf to Harry.

"I'm sure... and I don't need a scarf." Harry said.

"Ready Harry?" James asked as he entered.

"Ready."

James handed him a pot filled with floo powder and stepped back. Harry stuck his hand inside the pot and got a handful of it's contents. He stepped inside the fireplace and yelled, "Hogwarts. Headmaster's Office!"

* * *

"Good to have you back, mate!" Nathan Lupin exclaimed as he playfully ruffled Harry's hair. Harry tried to get out of his grip but Nathan was obviously stronger.

"Mate, where've you been?" Nathan asked.

"Let go of me first!" Harry hissed.

"Oops. Sorry." Nathan said and let go of him.

"Thanks." Harry mumbled as he adjusted his clothes. "I've been in bed, to answer your question."

"Is it because of what happened at the World Cup, or is it because of..._that_?"

"World Cup." Harry said, finally done with his clothes and grabbed his trunk.

"Here, let me get that." Nathan offered as he took the trunk from Harry.

"Thanks." Harry said. He wasn't really up to the task of carrying his trunk up to the dorm room.

"Have you heard about Quidditch yet?" Nathan asked, through the large trunk.

"Yeah. It's been cancelled. I'm a bit thankful about it really. Now I don't have to train at dawn."

"Me too. Although Wood's reaction to it seemed to be quite the opposite. You should've seen his face."

Harry chuckled as he opened the door to allow Nathan to enter. Nathan placed the trunk near his bed and sat down on it.

"Y'know, Cyrus and Ciara were pretty worried." Nathan told him.

Harry looked at him. "They were?"

"Me too. Dad and Sirius too."

"Was my condition really that... you know..."

"Yeah. I heard it from Dad."

Harry was about to say something else when the door suddenly opened and two people came in. One was a wavy-haired blond boy, the same age as Harry, and the other was a girl, also a wavy-haired blond and the same age as Harry. Both had startling blue eyes.

"Harry!" the girl yelled as she enveloped Harry in a bone crushing hug.

The boy closed the door and went to stand next to the girl, who was his twin sister.

"Hiya Harry! It's been an awfully long time!" he said.

"Hi Cyrus. Hello Ciara." Harry said to each of them.

They both smiled at Harry. "We thought you'd forgotten about us!"

"Why would I forgot the infamous Black Duo?"

Cyrus and Ciara Black grinned and showed Harry a thumbs-up. Nathan smiled at them.

"Welcome back, Harry"

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hey guuuuys! I'm sorry for this incredibly short chapter but I wanted to dedicate this entire chapter to welcome our main hero back to Hogwarts.

Once again,

Thank you for reading. And PLEASE review! :'( *I'm crying here* Please Review!


	7. Chapter 7: Durmstrang and Beauxbatons

**Author's Notes:** Hey guys! I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaccckkk! Who missed me? Hahaha. Alright. Alright. Here's Chapter 7. I've kept you waiting long enough. Enjoy... maybe not...

* * *

Over a month had passed since Harry came back to the castle. He was quickly thrown into a lot of schoolwork that he had to catch up on but the teachers were a bit considerate on him so they gave his homework and extra lessons one at a time. Of course, Snape and Binns weren't one of these teachers. Trelawney too.

Snape didn't believe in these kinds of things and was intent on giving Harry as much work as possible for him to catch up sooner and they can progress with the lesson further. Harry supposed that it was to be expected. But the amount of workload Snape gave him was too much, even for him.

Trelawney, who had thought that Harry had really died like her past predictions had told her, was very much shocked to see him back in her class. Although Harry was thinking of dropping Divination for this year, McGonagall had encouraged him to try and continue with it, seeing as he was quite… able… at the subject. Personally, Harry just hates Trelawney.

Binns was… uncaring. After Hermione told him that Harry had been absent for a week, Binns started drawling out textbooks and pages for his reference and reading so he could catch up and ordered six, three-foot long essays to be handed in the week after.

So, we arrive at Harry having deeper dark circles under his eyes and even messier hair. He had become even thinner and would usually mutter something under his breath and then pull at his hair a few moments after.

"You think he's finally snapped?" Cyrus Black asked Nathan while they were at the common room. They were currently doing their homeworks and essays and although Harry was almost done with his workload, he still had a few more to finish.

Nathan leaned to Cyrus. "Probably. I'm just worried about his condition."

"Should I call Madam Pomfrey?" Ciara asked, looking up from her book.

"Maybe you should. He's been muttering to himself these past few days…" Cyrus said.

"_I can hear you!"_

The three's attention snapped to the messy-haired boy sitting across them, barely visible from the stack of books in front of him. If he wasn't widely known for his amazing skills at Quidditch, one might mistake him for a geek. Harry put the book down and looked at them.

"Blimey, Harry. You look dreadful!" Ciara said.

"Yeah, thanks…"

"No, I mean… I think you should… get…"

"Get Madam Pomfrey? No way Ciara! I've still got a lot of work to do and I'll not waste my time on a hospital bed doing absolutely nothing!"

Cyrus rolled his eyes. "She _meant_ get some rest, troll brain!"

"No. Can't you just leave a guy to himself?" Harry told them. Cyrus and Nathan looked at each other and they both exchanged a look. Smirking and nodding at each other, they approached Harry and grabbed hold of his shoulders and started dragging him up to his room. Cyrus caught Ciara's eye and she nodded in understanding and headed towards her own room.

"Guys? What's going on?"

"Relax Harry. Ah! Here we are!" Nathan said as they arrived at the fourth-year dorms and he opened the door. Ciara arrived a few minutes later and she had a small bottle in her hands. She gave it to Nathan, who smirked at Harry. Cyrus was holding him down on his bed.

"Open wide Harry..."

Harry's eyes widened. "What are you doing?!"

"Sorry. It's for your own good."

"Yeah dude. You're seriously in need of some shuteye. Sweet dreams though." Cyrus said from above him.

Nathan opened Harry's mouth and poured the bottle's contents into it. He then stepped back and looked at him with the Black Duo beside him. "You need this Dreamless Sleep potion Harry. Trust me. You can thank us later. Night!"

Harry didn't even get a chance to fight back as the potion immediately took effect.

* * *

**The next day...**

"So... how was Snape?" Ciara asked casually as Harry sat down. Harry didn't reply and gathered up some chicken and pie onto his plate.

"Uh... hello? Didn't you hear me? And why are you eating that? You aren't supposed to."

"Buzz off, Ciara. Mum and Dad aren't here. And Snape is still Snape... now leave me alone..." Harry said, biting into a meat pie.

"Och! One, don't 'buzz off Ciara' me! Two, don't you care about your health? And three, I _meant,_ how did Snape react when you handed in your overdue homework! Honestly!"

"I'm just a bit cranky right now Ciara! And I don't ever wanna eat that goop! I hate the stuff. It doesn't even do anything. And finally, I don't care if Snape blows up just because I handed in an overdue homework. He still accepted it."

"Fine, fine! Don't blow off your top! Keep cool. The other schools are coming in this afternoon. You wouldn't want to look like an idiot in front of those foreigners right?"

"Oh shut up!"

They continued their lunch in peace afterwards. Cyrus and Nathan arrived minutes later and joined them in their lunch. For once, Harry was quite happy in his stay so far this schoolyear. The stress he had had been removed now that he was enjoying good times with his friends. They were probably the only friends he had in the entire castle. Their time together was cut short, however, when McGonagall appeared and told the remaining Gryffindors to get ready and go outside so they can wait for the foreign schools.

Harry and the others quickly complied, not really wanting to get on Professor McGonagall's bad side. She was already stressed and pushing her further would only scream suicide. The four Gryffindors walked outside of the castle and onto it's vast lawns. They had a really nice view of the lake but the cold wind slapping them on their faces made them regret ever going outside.

Soon, the whole school was assembled and everybody waited in tense anticipation. Tense anticipation which quickly turned to complete and utter boredom. Some students, who were fidgety and jumping on their feet at first, were now looking for a way to sneak off to their dormitories or lie down on the grass without having the teachers fuss over them. Harry couldn't blame them. I mean, come on! They've been standing for four hours!

"Which idiot thought that it'd be awesome to wait here for four hours without even sitting down?!" Cyrus complained. Nathan looked at Cyrus as though he had gone crazy.

"Dumbledore did!" he said.

"Oh... sorry..."

Harry rolled his eyes at them and decided to sit down on the grass. He didn't care if McGonagall would see him and come running right over. He was in serious need of rest. Luckily though, McGonagall had not spotted him and he was able to relax. But he really was annoyed by these schools. Did they even decide on a proper time to come?

"Hey! Look!" a first year said as he pointed up in the sky. The other students who heard him looked up to see where or what he was pointing at.

"What is it?"

"A giant bird, or something?" said a girl from the Hufflepuff line.

"No! It's a dragon!" said a first year from Gryffindor. An older student whacked him on the head.

"Don't be stupid, Connor!"

"Why in the world would they bring dragons? Honestly!" Ciara said from behind Harry.

"Dragons?"

"No! It's obviously a giant house!" said Colin Creevey, a first year, who was unfortunately, in Gryffindor. All Harry knew about him was that he was a devoted fan of his brother. For what reason, he didn't know.

When he said those words, Harry looked up and squinted his trained eyes at the small dot on the orange sky. It eventually got larger at every passing minute and Harry saw that Colin's prediction actually wasn't that far from the truth. It turned out to be a carriage. An extremely large carriage drawn by equally gigantic pegasi.

It landed with a great crash (it didn't actually crash... just made a 'boom' sort of sound because of the bumpy landing) on the lawns and was positioned in front of the waiting students. The doors to the carriage opened and out came a gigantic woman, even bigger than Hagrid, followed by some boys and girls who looked like they were in their late teens. They were dressed in thick cloaks and scarves as though it were snowing.

"_That's_ Beauxbatons?" Harry said as they passed by. "But... they look like they can't put up a decent fight... they're all pompous looking..."

"Would you look at them!" exclaimed Ciara. "Cloaks? Scarves? It's not even winter yet!" she said as she eyed a few passing Beauxbaton girls with great distaste. Her brother, Cyrus, seemed to have different thoughts about the new arrivals.

"Oh, let them off, will you? Scarf or not they're still soooo good looking..." he said, mouth practically drooling. Ciara slapped him and walked away from them muttering under her breath. Harry caught a few words like 'boys...' and '... honestly!' and '... drool? Really?'. Harry turned to Cyrus who was rubbing his cheek.

"What?" he asked when he noticed him staring at him. "Oh, come on dude! Even you have to admit, those kind of girls are hard to find. I'm listening to my French side now dude. My dad knew what he was doing when he found Mum in France. I mean look at those babes!"

"You're just like Padfoot, you know that?" Harry said.

"Whatever. If boys are swooning over those Beauxbatons girls, then I bet girls will go head over heels for those guys at Durmstrang. It's an all guys school."

Harry shot him a look that clearly said, 'Frankly, I don't care...'. Cyrus shrugged and left him to himself.

Thankfully, Durmstrang arrived a few minutes after Beauxbatons and they finally got to go inside the warmth of the castle. It took them quite a while to get inside, actually. One particular student from Durmstrang made sure of that. What with his screaming fangirls and adoring public, Viktor Krum was halted every few steps for autographs.

When they _did_ manage to get inside though, the Hogwarts students immediately positioned themselves on their tables and started fixing up their uniforms to try and look presentable to their guests. One of them was Cyrus, who already looked dashing himself, who kept combing his blond hair and parting it just right.

"Dude, just... Just stop. You're creeping me out." Harry said as Cyrus started making smoochy noises to his mirror. Harry had no idea as to why Cyrus brought a mirror with him. As far as he knew, only girls carried them around.

Cyrus paid him no mind and continued fussing over his hair. Harry sighed and he caught his reflection on Cyrus' mirror for a brief second. He looked a mess. His messy hair, was even messier. The bags under his eyes were easily distinguishable and so were the shadows under his eyes. Compared to Cyrus, who was sitting right next to him, he looked like a common peddler. The baggy clothes, though tenderly cared for, easily gave it a finishing look.

"Here they come." Nathan whispered. He was sitting opposite to Harry and Ciara was beside him, huffing angrily at her brother.

The great oak doors of the Great Hall swung open and Beauxbatons students paraded inside, heads turning to check for tables that would fit them. After a few minutes, they seemed to agree on the Ravenclaw table, much to Cyrus' disappointment. He had been one of the boys who were noisily offering them their seats.

Durmstrang followed Beauxbatons not long after, all of them having removed their thick fur capes, revealed that they wore blood-red uniforms. All of them looked grim and upset with their ever present scowls.

"Wow... what put them in a bad mood?" Cyrus asked, craning his head to observe the new arrivals.

Like what happened when Beauxbatons entered, the students immediately offered their seats in loud voicess, hoping to get a chance to see Viktor Krum up close. But much to their dismay, Durmstrang chose the Slytherin table.

Once everyone was settled in, Dumbledore stood up and gave his speech, extending a warm welcome to their foreign guests and introducing the two visitong schools' headmasters, Igor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime. The students politely clapped their hands, or in Beauxbaton's case, stood up, to greet them.

"Now, tuck in! I'm sure every one has worked up quite an appetite."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** That's all for this one, sorry! I'm busy, and I just wanted to post a new chapter after such a long time. I'll update the next chapter quickly guys, promise! I wouldn't miss it for the world! The Triwizard Tournament is finally here!


	8. Chapter 8:Goblet, Memories, and Dreams

Harry and the others looked up every once in a while from their meal to see if Dumbledore was done and ready to announce what they have all been wondering about: How they were going to pick out the Champions. It really was a mystery to them all, especially the Weasley twins who were plotting ways to get into the contest ever since they found out that only wizards and witches that are of age, meaning they reached the age of seventeen, could join.

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Dumbledore stood up. All talking ceased. A good sort of tension filled the room. Harry was excited himself, he didn't know why though. The Weasley twins, who were talking to each other animatedly, stopped and looked up at Dumbledore expectantly. They even leaned forward in their eagerness.

The Headmaster chuckled at the students' silence. He held up his hands and spoke. "The moment has come. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket-"

"The what?" Lucas muttered.

Ron shrugged.

"-just to clarify the procedure which we will be following this year. But firstly, let me introduce, for those who do not know, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation"- there was a smattering polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

There was a much louder round of applause for Bagman than for Crouch, perhaps because of his fame as a Beater, or simply because he looked so much more likable. He acknowledge it with a jovial wave of his hand. Crouch did not smile or wave when his name was announced.

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime on the panel which will judge the champions' efforts."

At the mention of the word 'champions', the attentiveness of the students rose. The teachers noticed this, as well as Dumbledore, and most of them thought, 'if only they were this attentive in their classes'

"The casket then Mr. Filch, if you please..."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed at the far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest, encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose road from the watching students.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore, as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways... their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At this last word, the Hall was filled with silence.

"As you know, three champions compete in the Tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the tasks and the Champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Tournament and the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector... the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore now took out his wand, and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. The lid creaked slowly open. Dumbledore reached inside it, and pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable, had it not been full to the brim with dancing, blue-white flames.

Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the Goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the Goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the Goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The Goblet will be placed in the Entrance Hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the Entrance Hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this Tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of fire, he or she is obliged to see through the Tournament until the end. The placing of your name into the Goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are whole-heartedly prepared to play, before you drop your name into the Goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

Harry trained his gaze on the wooden surface of the table in front of him after Dumbledore's speech. The Triwizard Tournament. Halloween. He had a feeling that something bad was about to happen. Bad things had happened to him during Halloweens. His first Halloween, when he was still a few months old, he was almost dropped by his father, as his mother had told them as a story. His next Halloween, when he was a little over a year old, was when Voldemort attacked their house in Godric's Hollow. And the following years after that, he was neglected on that day in favor of celebrating his brother's feat of vanquishing Voldemort. Of course, when he turned seven, his illness started taking its toll on him. And usually, he would have attacks on Halloween. When he was a first year, a troll got into the castle and it almost killed him, in his second year, he himself had found Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, petrified along with a scary message about the opening of the Chamber of Secrets. And on his third year, Peter Pettigrew, an escapee in Azkaban, broke into the castle.

"Harry."

A hand on his shoulder jolted him out of his train of thoughts. He looked up and saw Nathan Lupin looking at him with concern.

"You alright mate?" he asked.

Harry nodded slowly. "Yeah-I... yeah..."

He let go of his grip on Harry's shoulder and looked at the door. Most of the students were gone now and only a small crowd was left. Nathan turned his attention back to Harry and said, "Hey, come on. Best be off. Don't want to be caught by Filch."

"But you're a prefect..." Harry told him. He scrunched up his face for a moment before dragging him towards the door. Harry smirked at him. Cyrus and Ciara, who left for the door earlier, but were surprisingly still inside the Great Hall, waved at them and Nathan went to their direction.

"Hey! Great stuff right? The Triwizard Tournament is finally back!" Cyrus said when they arrived. Ciara just stuck her tongue out at him and muttered something under her breath.

"Yeah... _yay..._" Nathan said with no real emotion in his voice.

Cyrus glared at him. "I'm sure Harry thinks its great! Don't you Harry?" he asked, suddenly rounding on Harry.

Harry, who was caught off guard, stared at him in surprise. "I-uh... er... yeah... sure..."

That seemed to be enough for Cyrus though, because he said, "Man! If there wasn't a rule saying only those of age can participate, I'd sign right up! Imagine the glory and adoration and the bragging rights and the GIRLS! Oh yeah!"

Harry didn't fancy the glory, or the fame, or the adoration from other people. He didn't even want bragging rights, much less girls. No... If what Cyrus said was true, that there was no age rule, he'd sign up too. Not for the reasons that his friend listed off, but for some attention from his parents. All he ever wanted was to hear his father say, 'I'm proud of you, son.' or his mother saying, 'Oh, you did it! I'm so proud!'.

You might think he had gotten all that from his position as Seeker in his Quidditch team, not to mention he'd entered on his first year, but no, his father never said that he was proud. After all those spectacular games that he'd pull off, all they ever said was that they were worried. That he should be more careful and watch out for bludgers first before deciding to dive into the ground. A bludger had actually aimed to kill him on his second year. It only had eyes for him and it broke all the bones on his right arm... or was it the left one...? Anyway, nothing he ever seemed to do appealed to them.

One particular event was proof of that.

He was in his second year and he had just found out where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets was. He and his best friend, Cyrus, wanted to tell the teachers, but it seemed that his brother and his friend, Ron, were disturbing them for the moment, so they tried going to Dumbledore. There was no such luck as they did not know where his office was. They were getting desperate and Cyrus had taken to speaking in a loud and agitated voice. Of course, fate had to bring Lucas into the equation. They heard about the Chamber and called Professor Lockhart. He and Cyrus thought that they wouldn't do anything stupid so they left them.

But when they passed Moaning Myrtle's corridor, they heard Lucas' voice, along with Ron's and Lockhart's. They kept saying open so he peeked in. Cyrus asked him what they were doing and he answered, 'They're trying to open the way to the Chamber." But he accidentally said in Parseltongue. It seemed to have heard him because the sinks shifted and before he could stop them, Lucas and his companions jumped in.

"Listen, Cyrus. Go get the Professors. I'll find a way to get them out. Go!" He remembered saying to his friend. He immediately searched for a teacher and he uttered a quick prayer before jumping in. He found them seconds later, with Professor Lockhart holding Ron's broken wand. He cast a spell and it caused the tunnel to collapse. A rock was about to hit Lucas so he quickly jumped in to save him. That one noble act, however, caused him to be stuck in the other side of the cave in, where he knew that there would be no way out. He heard Lucas yelling at him from the other side but he tuned him out. He didn't know why, but something told him to go further, deeper into the tunnel.

He followed the path and he found myself in front of a door with two snakes with gems that that were placed on their eyes. He said "open" in Parseltongue again and it opened. He walked in and he found himself inside the Chamber of Secrets. He found Ginny unconscious a few feet away. So, I'm just going to spare you the details. Voldemort appeared, well, his memory, he kept saying his brother's name, and he called a basilisk and he was chased around the Chamber. Fawkes and the Sorting Hat appeared and he got a sword from the Hat. Gryffindor's sword. He stabbed the basilisk on the roof of its mouth and he killed it. But he got one of it's teeth stuck in his arm. The poison quickly spread as well as his blood, accompanied by the exhaustion he felt from his sickness, he practically felt himself slipping away quickly. Breathing was becoming difficult too.

Thankfully, Fawkes healed the poisoned arm and he gathered enough strength to get up and stab Tom Riddle's diary. He defeated Voldemort and Ginny woke up. The blood that was soaking his clothes was starting to feel weird... and gross. Lucas and Ron managed to dig a hole through the cave in and they managed to get out. They got a hold on Fawkes and he carried them out of the pipe and into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom where the Hogwarts staff, and to Harry's displeasure, his parents, stood waiting for them.

"What did you think you were doing young man?!" his mother screamed. Harry closed his eyes and cringed at her tone. She was angry. And once she got riled up, there was no stopping her. He just waited for her tirade to end and listened as her screams of anger turned to soft cries of relief. She knelt down in front of them.

"Oh sweetheart... I was so worried..." he heard her say. Harry opened his eyes when she said that but he immediately regretted that decision. He saw his mother hugging Lucas so tightly and his father joining in too. He was left there, standing awkwardly, clutching the sword and hiding his bloody clothes and arm. Unfortunately, McGonagall caught him doing so and she paled. She was about to inform his parents when Harry stopped her and shook his head. She was about to lecture him about 'it's not right to hide these things' but he stopped her with a firm shake of his head.

McGonagall nodded once and beckoned him to come with her. Lily, James, and Lucas didn't notice them leave. McGonagall led him to the Hospital Wing where he actually made Madame Pomfrey shriek. She checked up on him immediately.

Of course, St. Mungo's were quickly added into the scene as he heard Pomfrey mutter about something. It was probably his illness. He was so exhausted. He actually wanted to give in to the blackness that were threatening to obscure his line of vision. He blinked a few times and desperately tried to stay awake. But it was no use. He fell unconscious with a half attempt of ever waking up. It almost felt like he never did want to wake up.

But much to his displeasure, he awoke to loud voices coming from the other side of the room. He tried sitting up but his body was in too much pain. He slipped out of consciousness after that. The next time he woke up though, was much less quiet and painful. Madame Pomfrey was tending to him and he saw Cyrus sitting near his bed, along with his sister and Nathan.

He asked them what happened and they told him the stories that spread around the castle. About how Lucas Potter bravely fought off the monster in the Chamber of Secrets without so much as a scratch on him. He even managed to rescue Ginny Weasley along the way too. And of course, there were the not so pleasant ones about how his pathetic excuse for a brother, Harry Potter, lay useless in a bed in the Hospital Wing, who can't even fight to stay conscious.

"Mate? Mate. MATE!"

Harry snapped out of his trance and looked around quickly. "Huh? Wha-?"

Cyrus looked at him with an amused expression on his face. "Do you want to go in? Or would you rather sleep outside tonight?" he said with a chuckle.

Harry glared at him and he quickly ran inside the common room. Unlike Cyrus though, he didn't make quick stops around the room. He immediately went straight to their dorm room and fell face-first into bed, only bothering to take off his shoes, robes, and glasses. He flipped his position and lay on his back, staring up at the ceiling of his four-poster.

'Would I really risk my neck in the a Tournament just to get their attention? If it means me, dying a horrific death, then count me out. I'd rather die in a hospital bed, peacefully with this illness... or wherever my parents might find me sprawled on.'

He turned on his side and eventually fell into a restless slumber. He dreamed about him being entered in the Tournament and dying in a violent manner. His parents seemed unfazed and his brother just sneered at him. Then there was a sudden burst of green light and then he heard a high cold voice laughing maniacally.

Harry woke up with cold sweat running down my forehead. He was took deep breaths as he felt like he just ran a marathon. His scar, as well as his forehead, hurt like hell. He rubbed his forehead frantically as he waited for the pain to subside. All the while, he can't help but think...

_'What does the dream mean?'_

* * *

**A/N:** Okay! That's Chapter 8. I'm back guys! Man it's been a long time! Sorry for the slow going plot. But things will start picking up in the next chapter. Thank you for the wonderful readers who are patient enough to wait for an update to this!

**NOW REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9: The Champions

Harry plopped down on the vacant seat next to Nathan. Nathan looked at him as he sighed and started to gather a few pieces of toast on his plate. He frowned at his friend as he continued to eat the food that was supposed to be off limits for him. The healers of St. Mungo's prescribed a special type of food just for his friend. Why wasn't Harry eating it?

"Hey, Harry?" Nathan asked after Harry finished his first toast.

Harry gulped and said, "What?"

Nathan stared at him. "Harry, what are you doing? Why aren't you eating the food that St. Mungo's prescribed for you?"

Harry shrugged. "It's really horrible Nathan. One look at it tells you that."

"It still helps Harry. You and I both know that." Nathan muttered.

Harry looked at him. "You don't understand, Nathan. I've been fed with that goop ever since I was born. Is it too much to ask for a slight change?"

"I'm not saying it's bad that you want to eat something other than that thing, but what if your illness strikes again? What then? How'd you think we'd all feel when you go down like that time at the World Cup? You were unconscious for days, mate. We were worried. I mean, we found the Dark Mark right above you."

Harry almost choked on his toast after Nathan said that. _Oh, shoot... He forgot to do some research on that. He acted weirdly around the mark back then._

They fell silent for a few minutes. Harry munched on his toast while Nathan sipped on some juice. The both of them barely even acknowledged the Black Duo's presence when they arrived for breakfast.

"What's with the gloom around you two? You should be excited! The Goblet's gonna announce the Champions tonight!" Cyrus exclaimed happily.

Ciara plopped right next to her brother and gave a 'hmph' as she crossed her arms. "There are more pressing matters than goblets spewing out names. Like _school_, for example?" she said.

Cyrus blanched as he gaped at his sister, horrorstruck. "_School?!_ You're kidding right?"

Ciara turned away from him and said, "You ought to give more thought to your studies. That's why Mom and Dad are always arguing about your grades."

"Shut up, know-it-all. Why don't you get together with Hermione some time? I'm sure the both of you could use the company." Cyrus said, sticking his tongue out at her. "Nothing's gonna stop me from finding out the competitors for the Tournament."

Ciara sighed. "Suit yourself."

The group fell silent once again. Cyrus, for once, wasn't talking as loudly as he did during meals and neither Nathan, nor Harry was coaxing him to. That was unusual for them. Maybe it was just the excitement tonight that got them like that.

Well... that applied to Cyrus... and Nathan partly. Harry was thinking about something else.

_The riot at the World Cup._

As Harry sipped some juice, he kept thinking back to that night. When that unknown man shot off the Dark Mark, from his wand, no less, he had that strange feeling. Like he actually _wanted_ to look into the Mark and no matter what happens, he must look up and stare at it. It was like his body was being controlled. He wanted to stop these actions but those thoughts were squashed by the great desire to look into the Mark.

But when he did... horrible thoughts started to run inside his head. They ordered him to kill... to see blood... to hear his victim's desperate pleas... And the worst part was... he actually wanted to do it...

Harry's stomach churned at the thought of those horrible things he'd been ordered to do. He swallowed hard and put the glass of juice down on the table and stared blankly at his plate as he let his thoughts wander off again. He had lost his appetite now. But apparently, his mind won't get rid of those thoughts right now so he grabbed his bag and got up.

"Whoa... whoa. Where are you going?" Nathan asked him.

"To class. It can't hurt to be early for once right?" Harry answered him.

"Class? You're kidding me. You have a two-hour free period." Nathan countered.

"So? I'll be _really_ early to class for once." Harry said. He ignored the stares he got from his friends and left them. Once he was out of the Great Hall, he made his way up the Grand Staircase and traced the path to the Library.

As Nathan had said, he had two hours of free period right now. If he could find something useful inside that library then he could do some more research about his unnatural reaction to the Dark Mark. If he could do that, then he could continue on making experiments and theories and hopefully, he'll hit a breakthrough and he could explain what the hell was wrong with him.

He found himself in front of the library a few minutes later and he didn't waste any time in going in. There was just a slight problem with the wasting time part.

He had bumped into someone. He was about to apologize when he found out that that someone was his _brother_ and his lackey, Ron Weasley. And of course, his skinny frame was knocked back and he hit the ground rather hard.

"Watch where you're going, goblin mug!" Lucas yelled at him as he dusted his uniform off. Harry had to laugh mentally at his sibling's actions. Here he was, on the ground, trying to get up, and there was Lucas, dusting his clothes as though he was the one who had just been knocked back.

Harry smirked and decided to make Lucas' little distraction worth his while. "Oh... sorry. I couldn't see where I was going at all because you had to block my line of sight with your fats. Seriously, I can't even begin to imagine how you go through those tiny doors without squeezing yourself through... fatty."

"What did you just say to me?!" Lucas screeched angrily as he grabbed Harry by the collar of his shirt.

Harry clamped his hands around his brother's and forced them off of him. "I said what I said, idiot."

Lucas looked livid and he was more than ready to hit him right then and there. Instead, Ron went over to him and tried to drag him away. Lucas struggled for a bit before swatting Ron aside. He raised a finger at me and warned, "One more insult like that... Just one more... And you're dead, loser! Next time, I'll definitely kill you!"

"Mate, just leave him. He's not worth the trouble." Ron said as he dragged Lucas.

"You better watch your back! You hear that?!" he yelled at Harry.

Harry sighed and dusted himself off and continued on his way inside the library. _'Now, where should I start looking?'_

* * *

"Hey... have you heard about how the Puffs are thinking of having Diggory as Hogwarts' Champion? Can you believe them?" Cyrus said as they climbed up the staircase. They had just been released from their last subject, History of Magic, and they were heading back to the common rooms.

Harry just shrugged and kept walking while Cyrus kept ranting on and on about the Puffs, not even minding the ones who were walking near them.

_'I can't believe I didn't find anything about the Mark...'_ Harry thought as he adjusted his bag on his shoulder. He had been in the library for the entire free period and still... he didn't anything. He looked in the Dark Arts section and although he found out the history of the Dark Mark, including the story behind it, there wasn't anything in the books he read that mentioned something close to his experience at the World Cup.

As far as the magical population knows, the Mark was a symbol of Voldemort and the Death Eaters and was used for the purpose of a sign that tells their enemies that someone has died or that they have taken over or simply, to let people know that they were there. Or had been, at least. But as far as their research goes, it was said that the Mark was harmless and it was just as it was. A mark.

But if it was harmless, then why did he have that kind of reaction to it? Could it be because of his illness? Harry shook his head. If it was his illness, then he would have felt something afterwards. Something from his heart, or from his blood. The magic flow... When he woke up he felt his magic become dangerously low.

But that can't be right. Minutes before he passed out, he had felt a great amount of energy surge inside him. His magical strength also felt like it had become unexplainably high. But after he dispelled those dark thoughts, every bit of energy that was inside him previously was drained quickly. Everything was drained, resulting in him passing out.

So... if he discarded his illness for a moment, then what else could he use as a possible reason to his reaction to the Dark Mark? He hadn't been using Dark Magic, he was sure of that. But exposed to Dark Magic however...

Maybe that was the reason. He had his fair share of encounters with dark creatures and he had also come face to face with Voldemort. Three times now, to be exact. The last and latest encounter was from two years ago, when he was still a second year. When he had discovered the Chamber of Secrets. And a year before that, when he was in his first year, he had an encounter with the Dark Lord. He was looking for the Sorcerer's Stone.

And his first encounter with him was from when he was a year old. According to everyone, Voldemort came to their house in Godric's Hollow and that was when he tried to kill his brother-

_'Step aside girl!'_

_'No! Not my children! Please!'_

Harry froze. What was that?

_'Stand aside, silly girl!'_

_'No! Not them! Please! Take me instead'_

What's going on? Harry clutched his head. It was throbbing and it hurt a lot. Cyrus noticed him and immediately went over to him.

"Mate? You okay?"

Harry grabbed a fistful of his hair as the voices continued inside his head.

_'I can't let the two of you live.'_

Harry's green eyes widened. His scar was throbbing painfully on his forehead.

_'AVADA KEDAVRA!'_

"Aaaaarrgghh!" Harry screamed as a bright green light shone in his mind. His head felt like it was about to split open from the pain.

"Mate? You alright there?" Cyrus said, noticing that Harry wasn't at his side anymore. His expression immediately changed to worry when he saw his friend clutching the railing with one hand and his head with the other.

Harry heard Cyrus' faint call and tried to clear his head and ignore the pain. "I-I'm fine. I'm fine, Cyrus."

"No you're not, Harry. You're all sweaty... and pale." Cyrus told him as he watched him carefully, as though he was afraid that he were to fall down any minute now.

"I'm fine. There's nothing to worry about, honestly." Harry told him reassuringly. Thankfully, the pain was going away. "Come on. We've got to finish all this homework before dinner tonight. Don't want to be late for the event tonight right?"

Cyrus didn't seem to be convinced but he went along with it nonetheless. "Okay... come on."

Harry followed after him. _'What was that all about?'_

* * *

The dishes on every table vanished as Dumbledore stood up from his chair. The moment that they've all been waiting for, the time when the Goblet would choose three students from each of the participating schools to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, was here.

Harry looked up at Dumbledore as he stood next to the Goblet. Next to him, Cyrus was practically bouncing up and down his chair in excitement. At least he was a bit better than what Lucas and Ron were doing. They were tapping the tabletop loudly, much to the others' disapproval.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I believe the time has arrived. The Goblet has chosen our three Champions." Dumbledore said and he slowly took a few steps towards the Goblet of Fire. No sooner than when he'd taken his first step, the Goblet's flames turned from blue, to red. The students jumped up, not expecting this to happen. Dumbledore, however, looked perfectly calm as he raised his arm to catch burnt piece of parchment that had come from the flames.

As soon as the piece of parchment landed on Dumbledore's hands, everyone watched with bated breath as they waited for Dumbledore to read the name out loud. The entire Great Hall was unusually quiet and the tension thickened when Dumbledore took a glance at the parchment, before parting his lips and said, "The Champion for Durmstrang... Viktor Krum!"

Cheers erupted from every direction. But of course, it was to be expected. Who else was better for the position?

Krum stood up from his seat at the Slytherin table and made his way towards Dumbledore. The Headmaster patted his back before pointing him towards a small room at the end of the hall, which Harry recognized as the Trophy Room.

After their cheers died down, the flames turned red again and another piece of parchment flew up in the air before landing slowly on Dumbledore's hand. Again, the entire Hall became silent. Dumbledore took a quick glance at the piece of parchment before saying, "The Champion for Beauxbatons is... Fleur Delacour."

Polite cheers were heard from the Ravenclaw table while the other houses just settled for clapping.

A tall, beautiful, blonde girl stood up from the Ravenclaw table and followed the path that Krum took earlier.

"Finally, it's time for the Hogwarts Champion!" Cyrus whispered excitedly. Harry caught Nathan rolling his eyes and he smiled. "Who d'you think it's gonna be?"

"Just shut up Cyrus..." Ciara said.

Cyrus stuck his tongue out at her. Harry ignored them and continued watching just in time to see Dumbledore catch the third parchment and look at it. Every student in Hogwarts leaned forward in eagerness. Not a single one of them moved.

"The Champion for Hogwarts... is Cedric Diggory." Dumbledore announced.

The cheers coming from the Hufflepuff table was so tremendous that the walls around them actually shook, showering everyone with bits of rubble and dust. The students chanted Diggory's name as he stood up from the Hufflepuff table.

Harry remembered Cedric Diggory from their Quidditch Match in their third year. They nearly lost the match. But thankfully, he was able to drive away the dementors who had come in the middle of the match. He cast the Patronus and saw Diggory going after the snitch. And of course his Seeker skills didn't fail him and he caught the Snitch before Diggory did.

After Diggory went through the door leading to the Trophy Room, Dumbledore faced them once again and extended his arms out. "So there we have it! Our three Champions! Now before we-"

Before Dumbledore could finish his announcement, the Goblet's flames turned red once again. Murmurs broke through the sea of students and some of them watched the Goblet a bit warily, especially those at the front. Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, as did most of the teachers, including Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff.

The Goblet's flames flew higher and out came a fourth parchment. Dumbledore's eyes widened, as did everyone else's. Small gasps were heard from every direction. Dumbledore stretched out his arm to catch the parchment to read its contents.

His eyes widened again and he paled after reading the name written on it. His lips parted and he whispered in a hoarse voice, "Harry Potter"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry guys! I'm delaying the story too much! But he's chosen as the champion now, right? That's got to count for something. Oh well... I don't know when I'll be able to post the next one. I'm thinking of updating my other Harry Potter fics, like 'They're Alive?'.

If you guys are interested in it, please read it? Please? In it, Harry's parents are alive but they think Harry died when in reality, he's been sent to the Dursleys. I've got to warn you guys though, Dumbledore's evil on that one. Please read?


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